


somewhere beyond the sea

by danielfaradays



Category: Lost
Genre: AU after season four, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Implied Sexual Content, Jack/Kate in later chapters, M/M, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sawyer/Juliet in later chapters, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:01:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 23,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28472787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/danielfaradays/pseuds/danielfaradays
Summary: somewhere waiting for memy lover stands on golden sandsand watches the ships that go sailing(Miles Straume goes looking for home and finds something else entirely)
Relationships: Daniel Faraday/Charlotte Lewis, Daniel Faraday/Charlotte Lewis/Miles Straume, Daniel Faraday/Miles Straume, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> It is still 2020 where I am so I guess we're just gonna post Lost fic ten years after the show ended. 
> 
> Anyway I love Dan, Miles, and Charlotte, and all three deserved better than what they got so I'm rewriting the show I suppose? More tags and characters will be added as the fic progresses.

Miles Straume thinks — no, knows — that home is just a concept used to sell greeting cards.

Sure, he has an apartment in Burbank he likes well enough, but even before he struck out on his own, he never felt like he was ever home anywhere. His mom, who had loved him dearly, never told him about where he was born, or his dad, or why he now spends his days chatting with ghosts like some kind of lame-o Ghostbuster. 

But home, as in where the heart is supposed to be? That’s some Hallmark bullshit. 

There was no such thing as a home in the romantic, hopeful sense. There were places you lived, and people you tolerated, and that was that. Miles knows better than to trust in some hokey sort of dream for people who still clung to naive ideas of how the world worked. He knew better. He’d seen better. 

Love exists, but Miles knew it was basically a scream into the void, a brief and foolish attempt to force meaning into a world that didn’t care. There was nothing special about human life. There wasn’t much special about death either. 

Nothing is special, nothing except what little you can take back from the world before you die. Miles thought that would be enough.

And sure, sometimes he gets lonely at night, but it doesn’t matter in the long run because life sucks and then you die. That’s Miles’ philosophy, and he’s sticking with it. 

There’s no point in trying to change a world that doesn’t want to change anyway.

(“All that money in the world isn’t going to fill that empty hole inside you,” the man who’d tried to scare him off the Widmore job told him, three days before his life would change. 

Miles doesn’t let it sting. He’s certain he doesn’t have a hole inside him. There’s nothing missing from his life, because everyone is just as miserable as him deep down.

He will later reflect on this, and wonder how he managed before.)

* * *

At first, Miles isn’t sure who he hates the most, Dan Faraday or Charlotte Lewis.

He keeps telling himself to focus on what matters. That sweet, sweet 1.6 million he’ll get when he makes it off this boat. The potential for answers, about his home and his father, that dangle tentatively in reach for the first time in his life. There’s so much at stake here that he flat out refuses to let a fucking nutcase and a frigid bitch ruin this for him.

The Kahana seems smaller the farther they travel out to sea. Miles tries to keep to himself, because he really doesn’t like anyone that much (though Frank is less annoying than the rest, mostly because he just drinks and minds his own business). Naomi is hot, but she clearly hates her team more than Miles does, so she keeps to herself.

That leaves Miles two choices if he doesn’t want to go full “all work and no play makes Miles a dull boy” between Fiji and their destination: he can try to spend time with Keamy and his band of jackasses, or he can talk to Frank and, by extension, his two more annoying teammates.

Dan shook Miles’ hand for too long when they met, and in general way too tactile for his own good. He fidgets all the time, tugging on his tie and fiddling with his sleeves. He’s either off in his own world, scribbling equations in his notebook or staring into space, or he’s talking a mile a minute with wild gestures to match.

Charlotte, on the other hand, was polite, even funny when they first met, but once Miles threw up a little attitude, she shut down and turned into a raging jackass. She gives fiery retorts to all of Miles’ jabs, and even tries to deflect his sarcasm from Dan a few times; the poor bastard seemed to fall in love with her the second he laid eyes on her.

The pair of them became glued at the hip too fast, which means that whenever Miles stumbles to the cafeteria or tries to find a quiet place to think, he’ll usually run into them both, playing cards or doing something even weirder. He’s walked in on Charlotte trying to teach Dan other languages, or Dan patiently explaining some equation. Miles can’t tell if Charlotte just likes Dan’s obvious crush and the attention it brings, or if she genuinely likes him back.

Miles does not understand it at all. This is a job, one that he already knows is dangerous thanks to the weirdos who tried to scare him off before he left. There isn’t room for feelings and softness here. There’s only the job, getting in and out alive, and then using the money to get the fuck out of Dodge.

This wouldn’t be much of a problem if he were being left alone. Charlotte seems like she’d very much like to leave him alone. 

But Dan…. yeah, yeah that’s who he hates most.

Dan wants to be his _friend_.

Miles tries to project a lot of “I don’t want to be your friend” energy, but Dan doesn’t take the fricking hint. Instead, he’ll try to wave Miles over to the table where he and Charlotte are playing card games, or will see him in one of the Kahana’s narrow corridors and come running over to say hello. He has questions about if Miles is a scientist (Miles spits out a curt “no”), what Miles’ job on the boat is (“apparently, babysitting nutcases”), and a whole other list of things that he doesn’t have any business asking about.

Charlotte tells Miles to be nice. “He’s really quite sweet,” she says ferociously. “He’s just nervous about the job, we all are. You could stand to be a little kinder to him.”

“Listen, red, that’s nice but that sounds like a you problem,” Miles drawls. “This isn’t our Cub Scout trip, and no one’s handing out badges for best friends. Besides, I thought the fact he’s already naming the babies he wants to have with you would be more of a concern.”

Charlotte, to her credit, doesn’t blush. “Dan doesn’t have a crush on me,” she says, only slightly less firmly than before. 

“Keep telling yourself that.” Miles elbows past her and stomps off to his berth.

* * *

The problem is, he realizes after a couple days after his little chat with Charlotte, isn’t that he hates either Dan or Charlotte, though he’s not about to stick his neck out for either of them. The problem is is that they piss him off but he can’t help but find them oddly… endearing. Still annoying. But now in more of a charming sort of way.

Maybe it’s the fact he can’t really get away from them and therefore they’re starting to rub off on him. He actually smiles when Charlotte nearly punches Keamy in the nose when he tries to steal Dan’s notebook, and finally, after a week of being on the ship, when Dan eagerly waves him over to their table Miles actually sits down and tries to enjoy lunch with him, Charlotte, and Frank.

At one point, Dan makes a _Star Trek_ joke and Charlotte responds in actual fucking Klingon. Miles hates that he honestly laughs, not at them but with them. Frank rolls his eyes fondly at all of them.

They start to seep into his dreams too. At first, it’s just Charlotte — she’s hot enough, and Miles thinks it might be fun to kill some time in either her berth or his. He thinks her smart mouth would be good at doing other things than just taking shots at anyone in her orbit, and he allows himself a few lazy fantasies.

Then there’s Dan, who’s got kind eyes and a nice smile. Miles thinks idly about what Dan would be like in bed, and how much he’d like to find out. He wonders if he and Charlotte already slept together, and considers how much fun he and Charlotte could have just taking Dan apart.

But they’re little more than fantasies. Miles has no intention of actually acting on them. Not when Dan and Charlotte are so clearly enamored with each other. There’s no way he’s going to swoop in and steal either one away from the other, and he doubts either of them like him that much, even if Dan does still smile a little bigger when Miles is dragged into conversations or dinners.

* * *

There are two moments on the freighter, as they drop anchor and try to find the island via helicopter, that make Miles realize he was fucked from the start, though how he doesn’t pinpoint until much later.

The first is with the two of them. Naomi had just set off on a solo flight, and there wasn’t much to do except watch Keamy over-compensate for his tiny dick. So Miles heads for his berth, planning on trying to nap through the gunfire. 

To get to his berth means passing where Dan and Charlotte’s berths are as well. Miles plans to slip past without drawing attention, but when a door is ajar, he can’t help but peer in. What can he say? He likes to know exactly what is going on when he takes shady missions from billionaires.

Dan and Charlotte are sitting on Dan’s bed. They’re not up to anything, just talking in low tones. Their faces are grave, which for some reason makes Miles pause. He’s used to Charlotte scowling or Dan’s vacant expression, but here they seem focused and almost afraid.

Dan sees him first and jumps. “Miles!”

Charlotte whips her head around, red ponytail flying. She glares at Miles for a second, body tense, and Miles wonders what she’s on the defense from.

He holds up his hands in surrender. “Don’t shoot.”

The pair stare at him for a moment, then Dan relaxes. “It’s okay,” he says gently, putting a hand on Charlotte’s arm. “He’s one of us, yeah?”

Charlotte nods.

“What are you two whispering about?” Miles pushes the door open a little more and leans against the frame. “If you’re planning a spring wedding, I’m all booked.”

Dan turns a bright red and stammers. Miles notices how he flexes his hand as he pulls it away from Charlotte’s arm. 

Charlotte, in turn, shrugs. “Just how weird it all was, when we were hired.” She fixes Miles with a glare that he’s sure has made lesser men crumble. “What happened to you? Was it a billionaire sweeping in to personally recruit you?”

Her tone dares him to take his worries to Naomi, or Gault. 

Miles weighs his options. He could tell them about the near abduction, could tell them about the fact that he’s probably going to find out more about his dad than he ever thought he’d know. But that would require a level of vulnerability he’s not sure he’s ready for, and it’s a surprise to him that he’s even considering that.

Instead, he steps in and shuts the door behind him. “You’re telling me Widmore personally recruited you both?”

Charlotte shook her head. “Just Daniel. He’s lucky like that.” She punctuates that with a warm smile in Dan’s direction, which causes another blush to rise to Dan’s cheeks. 

Miles cocks his head to the side. “Really?”

Dan swallows, then nods. “Yeah. He, uh, he came to see me a couple days after they found Oceanic 815. He said.. said the island we’re going to would cure me.” He chuckles at that. “My memory isn’t what it used to be, if you haven’t noticed.”

Charlotte smiles gently at that. 

“The next day, my mother came to see me.” Dan’s voice seems to come from far away. “She said she’d, she’d be proud of me if I went. So, here we are.”

Miles is, as always when he talks to Dan, more confused than when he came in. “Wait, so someone told you that this place could fix your brain?”

Dan nods. “I wouldn’t lie about this. I don’t like lying.”

Miles scoffs before turning to Charlotte. “So, what’s your story then?”

“Naomi found me at a dig in Tunisia.” Charlotte’s voice is level and clear, as if she’s rehearsed every word. “She told me about this place, and I thought it would be fascinating. It’s rare nowadays, finding someplace fresh and unvisited. I thought I’d have to go to the moon to find someplace I hadn’t been before.”

Miles realizes that she doesn’t share Dan’s disinterest for lying with that.

Dan’s eyes don’t leave her face when she’s talking. Once she finishes, he turns that soft gaze to Miles. “You still haven’t told us why you’re here.”

Miles pauses. Weighs his options. 

“I talk to dead people.”

He’s excited to see where this takes them.

Charlotte laughs. “Be serious.”

Dan’s brow furrows. “You… what?”

Miles shrugs. “I’m serious. I talk to dead people. I have since I was a kid. Naomi told me that the guy we’re looking for, that we’d need to get info from all the people he’d murdered. So here I am.” He lets his gaze move between Dan and Charlotte, who are staring at him with visceral shock. “So, we wanna talk about why they brought a physicist, an anthropologist, and me to find this guy?”

Dan recovers first. “How does it work? Your gift?”

Miles realizes he hasn’t heard anyone describe his talent as a gift in a long time. “I, uh, I don’t know. It just sort of happens.”

“Can you talk to anyone? Do they have to only have been dead a short while, or can you hear from people who’ve been dead a while?”

“I don’t know, Dan, maybe you’ll die on the mission and we’ll test this out.”

Charlotte glares at him for that, but Dan seems undeterred. “Fascinating,” he breathes. 

“I want to see it in action,” Charlotte replies cooly. “Before I believe it.”

“Like I said,” Miles teases. “Maybe Dan will die.”

Charlotte mumbles something that sounds like “ _not if I have anything to say about it_.”

Miles chuckles. “Well, now that my secret is out, I’m gonna take a nap, so if you’ll excuse -“

“No, stay.” Dan gives Miles a warm smile. “It’s not like you’re going to get much sleep with the firing squad overhead.”

Charlotte looks a tad territorially, but she nods. “Might as well. You’ve spent enough time avoiding us anyways, and we want to know each other before we head out. You can tell us everything you know about this Ben Linus.”

“I just know he’s killed a lot of people,” Miles says, taking a step back into the room.

Dan shudders. “I hope they don’t think that we’re going to kill anyone. I don’t think I could, if it came down to it.”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t,” Charlotte says, and Dan gives her a grateful look. She turns back to Miles and gives him a rare smile. “C’mon, we’re not going to give up easily.”

Miles considers telling them to fuck off and then walk out, but something in him makes him want to stay, for once in a very long time. He thinks it might be nice to stay.

So he does.

They don’t talk much about the mission after that, just about their lives (what they’re willing to share at least) and what they might do with their money. Miles sits across from Charlotte, with Dan between them, and for a while forgets the sound of gunfire overhead.

* * *

The second time is just with Dan.

Naomi has been on the island for several days now. They’re set to fly out and find her in the morning if they don’t hear back by midday. It’s dawn now, and Miles is up early with a pending sense of doom.

He goes to pace the deck and finds Dan standing at the railing, looking out over the ocean.

“Is this the bit where I tell you that if you jump, I jump?”

Dan twitches in surprise. “What?”

“Titanic. You haven’t seen it?” Miles laughs and comes to stand next to Dan. “In the movie, Kate Winslet is about to jump off the boat and Leo DiCaprio tells her that if she jumps in, he’ll jump in after her. And then they fall in love.”

“That seems like a weird basis for a love story,” Dan says. 

“Yeah, wait until the boat sinks,” Miles adds. “You’ve seriously never seen _Titanic_?”

Dan looks at him with those big, sad eyes. “No.”

“You didn’t take your girlfriend to see the movie?”

That gets a bitter laugh out of Dan. “No, Theresa… she and I never went to the movies much. We were too busy with work.”

Miles nods. “Theresa,” he says, testing the name out. “Is she waiting for you back home now? With a bunch of mini Dans?”

Dan looks away. “No,” he says, almost too quietly to hear. “She’s not.”

“Good.” Miles bites back a comment about Charlotte being jealous. He realizes, much to his own chagrin, that he’s a bit relieved to know that Dan isn’t going back to someone after the job is done.

They stand there in companionable silence for a while, and then Dan speaks again. “What about you? A girlfriend?” He pauses, then adds quickly “or a boyfriend?”

Miles bites back a defensive reply. He’s used to the boyfriend questions coming with a lot more venom or hatred. But Dan doesn’t sound angry. He sounds curious, shy almost.

“Neither,” he says flatly. “Can’t find anyone who wants to put up with me.”

“With your attitude?” 

Miles glances at Dan, who’s watching him with a tentative smile on his face. “Are you… you’re teasing me?”

“Thought I’d give you a taste of your own medicine,” Dan replies, smile widening.

Miles stares for a moment, then throws back his head and laughs. “Oh, okay, I see how it is. I’m nice to you, and you think you can just throw it back at me?”

Dan’s smile drops. “No, sorry, I didn’t….”

Miles chuckles. “It’s okay, Dan, I’m just teasing you back. Trust me, it takes a lot worse than that to piss me off.”

Dan’s smile returns, a bit dimmed but still there. “Oh.”

The sun is peeking over the edge of the horizon, turning the waves to gold. The fresh wind and the sound of waves breaking on the ship set a peaceful tone. Miles knows it won’t last, but he’s never liked things because they last.

Miles thinks of his father, the man he never knew who abandoned him and his mother. He thinks of what Dan told him just a few days before, how he wanted to come here to make his mother proud. Maybe, just maybe, they’re not so different after all. 

“What do you think will happen when we make it to the island?” Dan’s voice is distant, as if he’s staring through time and space. “If we follow the right bearings, if we do everything right, what do you think will happen?”

“I dunno.” Miles shrugs. “Probably we’ll find this Linus guy after a few days. He’ll put up a fight, but we’ll find him. And then we go home.”

He thinks about that. Home. He’s never believed in it. What’s waiting for him anyways except a few dead houseplants? 

_What’s waiting for Dan back on the mainland_ , he wonders. _Or Charlotte._

Were they chosen because they didn’t have anyone waiting for them?

The sun is rising in earnest now. Dan shields his eyes against the light, and Miles thinks that maybe he’s been too quick to hate him. Dan’s not so bad. Their little team might not be the worst.

“Home,” Dan says softly. “I think I’ve always been looking for that, in a way.”

Miles feels that deep in his bones.

* * *

Naomi dies on the island.

“Tell my sister I love her.” That’s the code they’re supposed to use. 

Miles doesn’t know her enough to mourn. He’ll know who killed her soon enough.

They get on the helicopter in angry, frightened silence. They follow Dan’s bearings to the island. 

Then the storm comes.

The lightening strikes the helicopter and it’s a fucking disaster. Frank is yelling at them to bail as Charlotte can’t find her vest.

“Take mine!” Miles gives her the vest instinctively, knowing that if they’re going into danger, he wants her to have it.

And then Miles is pushing Dan out the door — “No!” Dan screams as Miles insists he has to go — and then Miles is after him, falling through the rain, hoping that he doesn’t land alone.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this fic is getting longer because I realized at about 2000 words that I could only get the first two episodes of season four done with this chapter. Hopefully, we'll finish season four in the next chapter, and then dive into the fun, romantic rewrite of season five and the gang's time in the Dharma Initiative.
> 
> I'm going to be very upfront and say that neither Dan or Charlotte are going to have their original fates in this story! So you don't have to worry about Charlotte's head imploding any time soon.
> 
> All my thanks to everyone who's read this so far. And to Lostpedia for the in-depth transcripts of each episode which really helped with the more dialogue heavy scenes that come directly from the episodes "Confirmed Dead" and "The Economist."

The island practically hums with death.

That’s Miles’ first thought as he tries to get his bearings. He’s on some sort outcrop near the water; he can hear the waves crashing below him. That, and the thrumming sense of doom, are what keeps him company for a few hours as he bides his time and waits.

Whoever killed Naomi? They’re probably gonna want to kill him too.

The sun is up and the rain has finally ended when he hears voices. He stills, playing dead, and goes over the names of the survivors they know in his head. Jack Shephard, Kate Austen, John Locke… whoever’s coming, he’s ready.

When he hears Dan’s voice, something that he might mistake for nervousness runs through him. Dan, for whatever goddamn reason, still believes in the good in people, and probably tried to make friends with whoever found him first out of some misplaced sense of decency. At least they didn’t kill him like Naomi. Miles isn’t sure he’d be able to deal with Charlotte’s grief if they had, assuming she’s still alive as well. 

He thinks he might’ve felt bad too, if Dan was dead already. He doesn't dwell on that though, not when he's got to keep his wits about him.

Dan doesn’t sound in distress at least. He calls out “Hey, Miles! Miles!!”

Miles forces himself to remain still. 

The leader makes his way down to Miles and pulls off his helmet. Miles counts backwards from five and then draws his gun.

“Back up handsome,” he says coldly holding the gun in the guy’s face. The man looks surprised, to say the least. 

Confident he has the upper hand in the situation, he turns to where Dan is begging him to lower the gun. _When this is all over,_ he thinks, _I’m gonna have a little chat with Dan about not trusting strangers._

“They’re here to help us!” Dan sounds sure of himself, even as the woman next to him is edging closer towards him. “It’s okay Miles, they’re just trying to help!”

The woman reaches for something and Miles realizes almost too late that she’s going for Dan’s gun.

“HEY!” He snaps, almost a bit too quickly. “Back away from him! Hands where I can see ‘em!”

Dan looks shocked that the woman would try something, and Miles would feel almost fond if he wasn’t so god damn pissed right now.

“Kate, it’s alright. It’s okay.” Handsome Man says, and his voice sounds familiar. This must be the Jack they heard over the radio.

Miles puts one and two together. “So you’re Kate? You wanna tell me where Naomi is? The woman you killed. Where is she?”

That spurs Dan into motion. “Miles, Miles, hey, hey, hey, what you doing? What are you doing? These are good people.” He’s talking fast, and somehow more clearly than Miles thinks he ever was on the boat, and again, if the situation were different, he might even be impressed.

“Then why'd Naomi use the damn code?” Miles growls back. “Yeah, you remember when she said tell my sister I love her, well she doesn't have a sister. That's what we're supposed to say if we get captured, have a gun to our heads. Like right now, Jack here would say tell my sister I love her, you get it?” He gestures with the gun to make a point, mostly for show but also to make sure Kate stays in line.

He’s not about to tip his hand to Jack or Kate about why he wants to see Naomi’s body. Hopefully Dan gets the memo though. 

“Miles,” Dan repeats, as if saying his name is enough to calm the situation. “What about Charlotte? What about Frank?”

And yeah, Miles is worried about them too, especially since he didn’t see Charlotte make it out after him, but there’s more pressing matters. Like figuring out who killed Naomi, why they killed her, and what these people know about him and the mission.

Kate intervenes: “Naomi was killed, but not by us, it was, it was a man by the name of John Locke. He's not with us anymore.”

“Seriously, if I have ask you again…” Miles says sharply.

“Even if I took you to her body, you wouldn’t know what happened.”

“I’ll _know_!” Miles is getting really tired of this game. “Now take me to her body.”

* * *

Miles thinks it might be nice to check in with Dan and make sure he didn’t do anything stupid like spill important mission details to these people, but he’s not about to show that he and Dan are anything closer than unlikely teammates. It doesn’t matter if Jack or Kate weren’t the ones who killed Naomi. He still doesn’t trust them. It goes beyond his usual “don’t trust anyone” schtick; after all, these people have been stuck on an island for over three months. That’s enough to make anyone go crazy.

Dan tries to strike up conversation on the way to Naomi’s body, but Miles keeps shutting him down with comments about Dan not holding his gun properly. “You should know how to use one of these,” he grumbles.

“Sorry,” Dan says, sounding a little hurt. The hurt seems to go away though as Dan continues to chatter on about the weirdness of the island, how his head feels clearer, and how the light is doing weird things here. 

He asks if Miles saw what happened to Charlotte, and Miles breaks the news to him that no, she must’ve jumped after he did because the last time he saw her was on the chopper. 

Dan’s face falls at that. “Do you think she’s okay?”

Miles feels something that he tells himself is not jealousy. “She’s fine, assuming she didn’t do something stupid. Stop worrying, and keep an eye on these guys.”

Dan shuts up after that.

When they make it to Naomi’s body, Miles tells Dan to watch Jack and Kate as he talks to Naomi. The conversation is brief and terse. After all, it’s not like Naomi can impart any new wisdom — she’s dead. It’s all what she knew before she died, which is that she wants the team to finish their mission. She does confirm that Jack wants his people off the island, and that a guy named Locke was the one who killed her. 

That’s all Miles needs to know.

Dan is babbling on about the light again. He catches snippets of the conversation he’s having with Kate, and almost smiles when she asks him to put down the gun and Dan responds that he can’t “because Miles would kill me.”

“They didn’t kill her. Happened the way they said it did,” Miles tells Dan matter of factly when he’s done with Naomi. Dan nods, and looks like he wants to say more, but the sat phone in his hands beeps.

“It’s Charlotte,” Dan breathes. “Only three kilometers from here.”

“Alright then, let’s go get her.” Miles starts to move, but their hostages don’t follow.

What happens then is not something he’s proud of. How Jack managed to get them into a trap without being able to communicate with his people, Miles isn’t sure he’ll ever know. What matters is someone fires a shot that gets too close to both him and Dan. 

Kate snatches Dan’s gun away from him and he raises his hands in surrender. For a moment, Miles wonders if this is it, if this is the end. If he and Dan are going to die alone in this jungle because they were stupid enough to wander into a trap. 

“I dunno, Miles, how stupid are you?” Jack says to him before he takes his gun.

Miles decides he really, really hates Jack.

(A year and a half later, when Miles asks if Charlotte thinks he’s stupid enough to not notice her cheating at poker, Dan deadpans back “I dunno, Miles, how stupid are you?”

They stare at each other for a moment before collapsing into laughter that Charlotte doesn’t understand. They try to explain it to her between gasps for breath, and soon she’s laughing, not at the story but at them. The three of them sit at the table, howling with laughter, and Miles feels a warmth inside that he rarely felt before he met these two.

He will wonder then, how he ever hated either of them.)

* * *

Charlotte got herself captured. By the same bastard who killed Naomi.

Miles can feel Dan’s terror radiating off of him. He’s twitchier than usual, and Miles almost regrets telling him to shut up or he’d break his fingers earlier. Almost. He’s still not thrilled that Dan was easily giving up so much information so easily, but now the guy seems like he’s going to have a breakdown because his _girlfriend_ got kidnapped by some wackjob with delusions of grandeur. 

So Miles feels sorry for him.

He’s worried about Charlotte too, if he’s being honest. Once they got over themselves, he’d had a few nice conversations with her, and it’s clear that under that bitchy exterior she’s got a soft heart. She doesn’t seem to like him as much as she likes Dan, but Miles can live with that. He doesn’t quite tolerate her as much as he tolerates Dan either. 

Miles doesn’t even know when he began to tolerate Dan this much, if he’s being honest.

At least they find Frank, who’s alive and sober. 

“I saw a cow,” Frank tells them solemnly.

Dan asks where Charlotte is. Miles has his priorities in order though, and asks about the chopper and where it crashed.

“Crash? The hell kind of pilot do you think I am?” Frank sighs. “I put her down safe and sound, right over there.”

_At least there’s a way off of this rock_ , Miles thinks gratefully, even though he knows he’s not leaving just yet.

Miles tries to call the freighter. Of course the one person he wants to talk to doesn’t pick up, another stellar mark in an already shitty day. When he sees Dan trying to bring Naomi’s body to the helicopter, he snaps.

“That’s not Naomi. It’s just meat.”

Dan looks horrified. “We can’t just leave her here.”

Frank backs him up, at least, though he does it nicer than Miles does with a promise to take her on the next run. It almost makes Miles feel bad about snapping, but this mission has already gone sideways and he doesn’t want to babysit Dan’s feelings when they’re all in danger. 

“Worst comes to worst,” he tells Dan in a low tone, “we’ll bury her here. Okay?”

Dan looks placated by that. “Thanks,” he says, voice warm, and it makes Miles look away.

* * *

Sayid promises that he’ll get Charlotte back, and take him to Ben Linus, in exchange for a ride off the island.

Frank agrees. Miles agrees too. Dan would agree, but he’s too busy planning some experiment. 

Miles does pull him aside though. “Listen to me, okay. I want you to nod and tell me that you’re getting what I’m saying.”

Dan nods, clearly confused. “What’s going on?”

“I’m gonna go with them to get Charlotte.” _And to get Ben Linus to pay me off in exchange for leaving his sorry ass behind and jetting off with 3.2 million._ “If I don’t come back, and if she doesn’t either, just get the fuck off this island.”

Dan looks shocked at that. “What do you mean? You don’t think — ?"

“This guy killed Naomi. Charlotte might be dead already.” Miles keeps his voice emotionless. “Dan, just take the free advice. Get off the island, take the money, and go do whatever weird experiments you want in peace back home.”

Dan shakes his head. “I don’t understand.”

Miles sighs. “Frank will get you back to the boat. None of us signed up for a suicide mission.”

“No, I get that. What I don’t, um, what I don’t get is why you’re doing this?” Dan frowns. “You don’t like me that much.”

Miles shrugs. “Maybe I just feel guilty for saying I’d break your fingers earlier.” 

With that, he turns and heads over to where Sayid is standing. “Hey, Jarrah, you think you’re going after Charlotte without me?”

As it turns out, Sayid didn’t. He’s expected to go with him, and Kate too as it turns out. 

Miles still isn’t given a gun, which he thinks is unfair, but apparently they’re gonna try to talk sense to Locke without shooting. 

Later, as they’re walking through the jungle, Sayid asks him if he was close with Naomi.

“Nope,” Miles says. “Met her on the boat.”

“You don't seem particularly affected by her death.”

And yeah, Miles doesn’t really care that she died. He didn’t know her, and now he’s worried that this means he’s gonna die too. But he’s not about to say that. “Sure I'm affected. She was hot and I dug her accent.”

Kate scoffs. “Nice.”

“And this woman, Charlotte.” Sayid presses on. “You don't really care about her, do you?”

That’s a tricker one. “Define care.”

“So much for camaraderie,” Sayid says pointedly. Miles assumes he’s testing the group’s weaknesses, and he’s not about to add fuel to any fire by implying he, or Charlotte, could be used against each other. 

So he goes for sarcasm after that. “Yeah, gee, who's the one going after one of their crash buddies with guns?”

He knows why they’re taking guns. Locke’s a murderer, and probably so crazy that he’ll make Dan look sane. But still, if Sayid thinks he can find a weakness here, Miles is determined to prove him wrong.

* * *

The trap set for them works, and Miles wonders if there’s something on the island making it harder for him to notice the very obvious traps set in place for them.

He’s shoved into some boathouse by a blond guy with a Southern accent. “James Ford, right?” Miles says sharply. “Gotta say, man, you look worse than your picture.”

“Shut it,” Ford growls. 

He’s not alone in the boathouse. Charlotte is there too.

“Miles!” She gets up from her seat, but doesn’t bother to run up and hug him. Neither of them are the hugging type. “What happened? Did they find you too?”

“Nope. I came to rescue you.”

“Some rescue job.” She says it without malice. “Where are the others?”

They both know she means _“where’s Dan?”_

“Frank and Dan are back by the chopper. Frank managed to set it down without crashing.”

Charlotte sits back down, exhaling in relief. “You find any survivors?”

“Yeah.” Miles peers out a window to see if he can spot any guards. “Don’t worry, Dan’s making new friends now.”

When he turns to look back at her, Charlotte is pale. “What? Too soon to joke?”

“Yes,” Charlotte says darkly. “Ben Linus shot me earlier today.”

Miles blinks. “Did he miss? ‘Cause you don’t look shot.”

“You saved my life actually.” Charlotte rubs her collarbone absentmindedly. “Two shots to the vest.”

Miles exhales. He knew giving her the vest was the right decision. He knew it in the moment, and he’s glad now. “Well, thankfully we didn’t run into the group that wants to shoot us.”

“I’m glad.” 

The weirdest part is she sounds honest when she says that, as if Miles being shot would’ve hurt.

Miles clears his throat awkwardly. “Don’t worry about Dan. He’s got Frank with him, and he’s doing that thing he does where he tries desperately to make friends. I think they like him best so far. That is, if anyone’s been able to get a coherent sentence out of him.”

Charlotte smiles weakly. “Thank God for that. I was worried about you all.”

“You can say you were worried about him,” Miles says gruffly. “I know he’s your favorite.”

“Why do you keep doing that?” Charlotte’s tone grows sharp. “Keep poking at us?”

“‘cause there isn’t much else fun to do.”

“You’re always making these pointed little jabs, as though I don’t know that Daniel has feelings for me.” She scowls. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were jealous.”

“Oh yeah, I’m in love with you too,” Miles says sarcastically. “We’ve got ourselves a real love triangle on our hands.”

“Stop it.” Charlotte balls her hands into fists. “It’s not funny any more.”

“Oh, it’s still pretty funny.”

“You know Dan likes you too, right?”

That’s enough to stop Miles in his tracks. He gapes at her for a moment. “What?”

“Oh don’t pretend like you didn’t see it too.” Charlotte rolls her eyes. “I don’t know if it’s a crush, or if he just really wants to be your best friend, but once you started showing him a moment’s kindness he couldn’t stop talking about it. He wants us all to get home safely. Not just the two of us. He worries about Frank too, but he mostly worries about you.”

Miles sinks down into the other chair int he room. “I thought he was too…”

“Too what?” Charlotte snaps. “Too crazy? Too… how did you put it, on the boat? Too busy naming our future children? Goes to show how much you know.”

Miles sighs. “Listen, if you think this is going to make my heart grow three sizes and we’re all gonna hold hands and sing Kumbayaa, you’ve got another thing coming. I didn’t come on this mission to make friends.”

“Neither did I,” Charlotte grumbles. 

They fall into silence for a moment. Then Charlotte talks again. “You know, I feel like I’ve been here before.”

Miles closes his eyes. “Me too,” he admits.

He opens his eyes to see Charlotte giving him a piercing look. “What?”

“We’re probably about to be taken out and shot,” Charlotte says cooly. “You can tell me what you’re thinking. Who am I going to tell?”

Miles scowls. “Don’t push your luck.”

He pauses, then gives her a crooked smirk. “You think Genius has a crush on me?”

“He might.” Charlotte rolls her eyes. “Don’t let it go to your head.”

“I’m surprised you’re not jealous.”

“I don’t think this is a situation where jealousy works for anyone.” Charlotte sighs. “It’s not like he’s trying to decide which one of us he wants to ask out. He’s just been lonely.”

“He’s worried about you,” Miles says, letting himself be gentle for a change. “I told him, if we don’t come back, he should get on the chopper and get the hell out of Dodge.”

“Thank you.” Charlotte is earnest at that.

“Don’t think I’m getting soft though,” Miles says, and Charlotte rewards that with a smile.

* * *

A half hour later, Locke comes to the door. Both Miles and Charlotte are on their feet instantly, sharing a look. Miles can’t decipher what it means, beyond “we’re probably about to die.”

Sayid enters behind Locke. They give their captives a stern look, before Locke speaks first. “Charlotte, you’re free to go. I’m sorry for the incident earlier.”

Charlotte blinks at that. “Apology not accepted. And what about Miles?”

Locke shrugs. “He’s staying with us for a while. Sayid here traded him for you.”

Betrayal stings. Miles suddenly understands why he was invited along on this little expedition. Sayid wants off the island, so he promised to get Charlotte. There were no terms about Miles’ return.

Charlotte scoffs. “If you think I’m going to go off and leave Miles behind, you’ve got another thing coming.”

Miles is grateful for her defense. Really, he is. He’s still pissed though. He turns his attention to Sayid. “Nice move there, jackass. Really nice.”

Sayid shrugs. “I want to get off this island,” he says simply. 

Locke waves Charlotte along. “C’mon, you’ll want to head out now so you don’t have to travel at night.”

“I’m not leaving without my teammate!” Charlotte is indignant, flushing red as her hair. “If you haven’t forgotten, one of your people shot me. Who’s to say if I leave him with you, you won’t just shoot him once you’ve deemed him useless?”

Locke shakes his head. “We don’t do that here.”

“Really?” Charlotte is livid at this point, and Miles is almost content to watch her do battle with Locke. “Listen to me you, you complete and utter asshole —!”

“Enough.” Sayid steps between them. “Charlotte, please just come with me. Your friends are waiting for you. I promise, nothing will happen to Miles. John gave me his word.”

“A whole bloody lot that means,” Charlotte growls.

Miles sighs. “Just go. I can take care of myself.”

Charlotte spins to look at him. “Miles!”

“What? They’re the ones with the guns. We’ve got shit.” Miles gives her a pointed look. “Besides, remember what I told you.”

_Someone’s got to look after Dan_ , he thinks. It’s a tender thought, and it catches him off guard.

Locke and Sayid give them quizzical looks. Charlotte sighs. “Be careful,” she warns. 

The underlying meaning: _when you can, you run._

Miles nods. “See ya later. Give the headcase shit from me.”

Charlotte nods. Her blue eyes are bright as she turns and leaves with Sayid.

Locke hovers for a minute. 

“Can I help you, baldo?” Miles doesn’t care about being polite. “Or better yet, can I talk to Ben Linus?”

“No.” Locke tilts his head to the side, and Miles feels unsettled under his gaze. “Miles Straume. It’s good to meet you.”

“Can’t say the same,” Miles says as Locke leaves. 

As night begins to fall, Miles listens for the whispers of the dead. Another frantic, tender thought crosses his mind: he hopes that while he’s here, he doesn’t hear Dan or Charlotte’s voice join the chorus that’s pressing down on him.

_This place is death_ , he thinks, and shivers despite the heat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe two people canonically threaten to break Dan's fingers in the space of eight episodes. 
> 
> Anyway, I feel like I'm rushing in too fast with the Miles/Dan/Charlotte romance but I wanted to establish that Dan caught feelings early on, because it's canon that he falls in love pretty quickly. Miles doesn't know he's catching feelings, and Charlotte is trying to deny she caught feelings. When Dan Faraday is the most emotionally level person in the room, you know you're in trouble.
> 
> Please talk to me about this fic or the science team on tumblr at the blog milesdanielcharlotte!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We motor through season four in this chapter, because I'm anxious to get to season five! There are plenty of scenes with dialogue taken directly from the show, so thank you Lostpedia for the information.

The worst part of waiting to see what fresh hell awaits him is how god damn boring it gets after a while.

At first, Miles is mildly nervous. He’s a fast talker and has gotten out of scrapes before, but he’s never been held captive by a guy who’s already shown he’s ready to murder someone, all while on an island with no escape. His best chance of getting the fuck out of here means getting back to the others, getting on the phone, and getting Frank to get him back to the boat, unless Frank pulled some sort of noble stunt where he decided to not fly Sayid to the freighter after the stunt he pulled.

Somehow he doubts that Frank cares that much.

As the hours pass, he stops worrying and just starts to get pissed. 

Ford brings him breakfast, but doesn’t stay to chat, so Miles is left to pick at the scrambled eggs he got and sulk. There’s nothing to do here except stare out the window at the jungle, or stare at the ceiling, or see if he can hear any spirits talking nearby. He’d almost take being stuck in the middle of the ocean with only Keamy for company with how bored he is now.

As he waits to either die or not die, a plan starts to form.

There’s a chance for him to get out of here without having to find Linus and to get paid extra. Miles remembers what the asshole who tried to warn him off earlier said — 3.2 million to just up and walk away. Maybe, if he talks to Linus directly, he can still get that cash.

Widmore is a powerful man. Miles doesn’t know the guy personally, but anyone with enough money to stage a plane crash and drop 1.6 million on a medium to track down their nemesis isn’t someone Miles wants to cross. So, that extra 3.2 million from Ben Linus himself, coupled with the 1.6 million for technically doing his job? That can allow him to disappear. He’ll move to some country and live like a king, something he deserves after all the shit he’s put up with.

The plan is starting to really come into shape when Kate stops to visit.

“You get traded too?” Miles drawls.

Kate doesn’t dignify that with a response. Instead, she grabs a chair and sits down. “Do you know who I am?”

That’s not what Miles expects. “Excuse me?”

Kate gives him a piercing look. “Do you know who I am? Do you know what I did?”

The plan comes more into focus. Here’s his way out of this place. So he plays dumb. “What did you do?”

“Answer the question.”

“Okay.” Miles pauses for a moment. “I’ll tell you what you wanna know. But you gotta do something for me first.”

Kate shakes her head. “I’m not letting you out.”

“I don't wanna be let go. I'm exactly where I wanna be.” It’s not technically a lie. “What I want, is one minute of someone's time. You bring him to me, and I will tell you everything I know about you.”

This is enough to stop Kate. “Who?”

“Who do you think?”

* * *

  
_Right_ , Miles reflects later, _that wasn’t my best plan_.

He does get to talk to Linus, who is just as creepy and slimy as expected. He puts the offer on the table, hoping Linus is actually somewhat scared of Widmore.

“What makes you think I have that kind of money?” Linus plays dumb, and all of Miles’ pent up fury at his situation erupts.

“Do not treat me like I'm one of them!” He snarls. “Like I don't know who you are, or what you can do!”

_Is it possible Linus didn’t send the guys to intimidate me? And if not him, then who?_

Linus sneers at him. “Your friend Charlotte has seen me, she knows I'm alive.”

“I'll take care of Charlotte. You just worry about getting me the money. You have two days.”

His brain works fast. He’s not going to hurt Charlotte — even if he didn’t tolerate her, he’s not about to murder someone for money — but he does need her to keep Linus’s survival to herself. And if she knows, Dan knows too. He’s going to have to pay them off to shut their mouths, and Dan doesn’t like lying…

He decides that’s a problem for Future Miles to deal with.

Kate drags him out of Linus’s cell shortly after that. It’s all going smoothly until they try to leave and are faced with Locke and Ford. 

Kate is allowed to return to her house. Miles is marched back to the boathouse and tied up this time. He pulls on the ropes in futile hope, all his rage bubbling back with a vengeance. He’s tired of this bullshit already. If someone came in here and offered him any money to just fuck off into the sunset and disappear, he’d take it.

He hates this island. He hates the people on it.

Unbidden, his mind goes back to Dan and Charlotte. They’re probably off somewhere giggling and playing cards and not worrying about him at all. He wonders if they stayed on the island or left with Frank and Sayid. 

He wonders if they’re dead meat too, or if they’re the lucky ones.

Locke comes in in the morning.

“Listen. I don't know what you think you're doing, but you're wasting your time—“ Miles snarls, but Locke shuts him up.

Literally.

With a _grenade_.

Miles screams around his gag as Locke monologues about rules and punishment and what Miles is gonna tell him. He leaves with an “enjoy your breakfast” tossed over his shoulder, and Miles realizes that yeah, this guy is certifiably insane. 

He screams for a while longer, biting down frantically. The rage turns back into terror, sheer unadulterated terror. He does not want to die here. He doesn’t want to die like this. He doesn’t want to die alone, and unremembered, and scared.

Locke comes back and takes the grenade out of his mouth two hours later.

Miles tells him some of what he wants to know after that.

Only some though. He’s still holding on to a few of his cards.

* * *

A few days later, Miles gets marched into the barracks by Locke to explain to his group why he’s here.

Miles keeps it brief. “We’re here for him.”

No one seems surprised.

Hurley sighs. “We kind of, like, knew that forever ago.”

Ford wants to turn Linus over, and for once Miles agrees with the guy. But Linus interrupts, and says something that turns Miles’ blood cold.

“Once they have me, their orders are to kill everyone else on the island.”

That wasn’t in Miles’ job description. He knew that they were to take necessary precautions to get in and out alive, and to use deadly force if needed. If being the operative word. Miles knows he can’t lead a massacre on a bunch of innocents, and he can’t see Charlotte or Frank committing a cold blooded murder. Hell, Dan can’t even hold his gun properly; the last thing Miles expects to see is him firing on Ford, or Hurley, or the hot chick with the baby. 

Of course, their boat is filled with mercenaries, lead by a truly enormous douchebag. 

He swallows, but says nothing. He’s not giving them any more information.

After their meeting, Ford corners Locke as he’s leading Miles back to his cell and demands to know more about the money Miles asked for. 

“Miles offered his loyalty in exchange for the money. But as I haven't seen a bank on the island, I didn't think it worth mentioning,” Locke says, and it’s such a weirdly naive moment from such a serious guy that Miles can’t help but laugh.

“Linus will find a way to get it,” he says with a grin.

"And how will he do that?” Ford asks, and again Miles is struck by how stupid these people can be.

“He wants to survive,” Miles replies. "And considering a week ago you had a gun to his head, and tonight he's eating pound cake... I'd say he's a guy who gets what he wants.”

* * *

The next day, Miles is plotting another escape when the door opens and shows him someone he absolutely did not expect to see.

“What the hell are you doing here?” He says, mouth moving without him really thinking about what he’s saying. “I know you don’t like me enough to launch a rescue mission.”

Keamy gives him a shit eating grin. “Oh, we’re not here for you.”

In the not too far distance, there’s gunfire. A lot of it.

Miles tries to keep his cool. He’s got to act like he’s not putting his loyalty up for the highest bidder. “You wanna tell me what’s going on?”

“Well, you and your little geek buddies haven’t done shit to get the job done,” Keamy growls. “So a real man came along to finish the job.”

There’s an explosion.

“You wanna stay alive, Straume?” Keamy’s eyes are lit with a frightening light.

Miles weighs his options quickly. “Yeah.”

Keamy shoves a walkie talkie into his hands. “Take that to Linus. Tell him I wanna talk.”

“I really don’t think he’s gonna want to talk to you.”

“He’s gonna want to take this call.” Keamy gestures for the door and Miles steps into the sunlight to see one of Locke’s people, a brunette teenager, being restrained by one of Keamy’s men.

The chorus of the dead on the island whisper louder.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Miles says.  
  
“That’s Linus’s daughter right here,” Keamy says proudly. “So why don’t you just run on over to Linus and let him know I wanna talk to him.”

Miles stares at him. “And why would I wanna do that? So you can shoot me in the back?”

Keamy’s face darkens. “They’ve had you on this island for a few days now, yeah? So, what’s the likelihood you haven’t spilled our secrets to them? This is me making sure you’re useful, and then maybe I won’t shoot you in the head.”

_Well when you put it like that_ , Miles thinks.

Aloud, he says, “Message received.”

* * *

Keamy executes Linus’s daughter in front of him.

That’s when Miles realizes that Keamy has no intention of letting anyone off this island alive.

That means him.

Things get weirder after that.

They make a mad escape as some sort of… monster attacks Keamy and his men, one that seems to have been summoned by Linus himself. Miles watches it in awe as it rips through the barracks. The voices of the dead ring louder, a chorus of souls that scream and cry as the monster rips and kills, and above it all Miles hears a voice.

He can’t quite make out words, but the Voice is angry. It wants to kill and destroy; the rage in the Voice burns bright and furious in a way that seems beyond the realm of humanity. It is old and terrible and frightening to behold.

Miles has been scared before, in his time on the island. But nothing compares to the terror he feels at hearing this. It seems to be coming from the monster, as if it has a soul, and whatever soul it has is bitter and hateful. It only seeks to destroy, and Miles doesn’t have any notions that his gift can protect him.

_If I stay here, I’ll die_ , he thinks.

So Miles runs.

He realizes he followed Ford and the others only after they stop to catch their breath.

* * *

The trek through the jungle back to the beach proves to be as eventful as their escape.

First, they discover the bodies of two more of Locke’s people, also gunned down by Keamy. As Ford and Claire grieve, Miles relives their last moments. The fear, the worry over Alex — who must be the girl Keamy shot — permeate the air, and Miles feels sick. 

This is what that 1.6 million bought from Widmore. 

This isn’t want he signed up for though. Miles thought this job was an unusual search and retrieve mission. That’s what he signed up for. Sure, it was a dangerous job, but no one was really supposed to get hurt. He’s not a killer. 

“Your buddies do this?” Ford’s voice is angry, and Miles can’t blame him for that. These are his people who are dying. 

“They're not my buddies, man,” he says quickly. “I didn't sign up for this.”

It’s the first true thing he’s said on the island, he realizes. This isn’t what he, or any of the others on his team, signed up for. Miles can’t understand now why they picked him — sure he’s done things he’s not proud of, but he’s not like Keamy or his men. He’s different.

He wants to be different.

Later on, Lapidus gives them enough heads up to hide as Keamy and his men get closer to their helicopter. Miles doesn’t get the chance to ask him about Dan and Charlotte. Hopefully, wherever they are, they’re doing better than he is. 

It gets really weird after that.

Miles wakes in the middle of the night in their makeshift camp to see Claire talking to some new guy. Someone Miles hasn’t seen before. She keeps calling him “dad.”

He pretends to be asleep, trying to piece together what’s happening. Claire has had death swirling around her from the moment they left the barracks. Maybe this is a ghost, or one of the island’s many tricks. Maybe it’s that fucking thing that ripped apart Keamy’s guys.

The voices of the dead are quiet though. That’s weird. 

The man is about to lead Claire into the jungle when he stops and turns to look directly at Miles.

“I know you’re awake,” he says.

Miles keeps pretending he's asleep.

The man sighs. “If that’s how you want to be.” He pauses. “You don’t want to leave this please though, Miles. You want to stay. Those answers, about your father, that you’ve always wanted? If you stay, you might just find them. When it’s time to make a choice, don’t leave.” He pauses again, as if for dramatic effect. “Your friend, Charlotte? She’ll stay. After all the time she spent trying to get back here, she’ll stay.”

That’s enough to send a chill down his spin. Miles squeezes his eyes shut even tighter, and hopes they leave soon.

Part of him wonders if he shouldn’t follow, to make sure Claire’s okay. She’s got a baby after all, and Miles really doesn’t want to think of what’s waiting them both in the jungle in the dark, but he’s not a hero type. He just wants to stay alive, and possibly get off the island in one piece. Screw the money, at this point — he would very much like a paycheck, but at this point he wants to live.

The words haunt him though as he tries to get back to sleep. The jungle once more is filled with whispers, and Miles longs for so goddamned silence for a change. 

He knows he probably won’t get it for some time.

* * *

Claire disappears that night. The baby gets left behind only a few yards away from their camp, but she's gone.

Miles privately feels guilty about that. He could’ve done something, but he doesn’t say that. Ford is pissed enough as it is, and they’ve both got enough to worry about besides Miles not being a hero.

After a day or two, they find Jack and the others. As Ford takes off after Jack, Miles follows Kate back to the beach.

“Just as an FYI,” he tells her, “that Locke guy? He shoved a freaking grenade in my mouth once he sent you off.”

Kate winces as she adjusts the baby in her arms. “Sorry about that.”

“Sorry? No, no this is one of those times where sorry is not going to cut it,” Miles says darkly. “I’m starting to wish I’d stayed with you people. Bet you gave Dan and Charlotte the VIP treatment.”

Kate laughs bitterly. “Charlotte hit me in the head with her gun. She’s a real piece of work.”

Miles can’t help but smirk. “Sounds like her.”

“And Dan, he’s been trying to make nice with all of us,” Kate says. “Doesn’t change the fact he and Charlotte, and you, have been lying about why you’re all here.”

Miles shrugs. “So we lied. Big whoop. I’m sure you lied, when you first got here.”

“That’s different,” Kate says fiercely. “I didn’t say I was here to rescue anyone and then go back on my word.”

“I didn’t say I was here to help you.”

“Dan did.”

“Well take that up with him,” Miles scoffs. “I’m not his babysitter.”

* * *

When they reach the beach, Kate immediately heads off towards her people. Miles takes that as a cue to find his people.

Dan and Charlotte are sitting outside a tent, talking in low tones. Both of them look healthy enough. If asked, Miles would have firmly denied that his heart felt lighter seeing them alive.

Even if Dan hasn’t taken off his stupid tie.

Charlotte spots him first. She looks relieved for a moment, then quickly covers it with a smirk. “Dan, look who’s back.”

Dan looks frantic, but when he sees Miles he still manages to smile. “Hey,” he says, reaching out to give Miles’ shoulder a squeeze. His hand lingers a fraction longer than it should, and if it were back on the boat before they got to know each other, Miles would have shrugged it off by now. 

Instead, he welcomes the friendly faces.

“I see you two got cozy,” he says, gesturing to the tent.

Dan rubs the back of his neck. “Um, as much as I’d love to swap stories, we’re in big trouble right now.”

“I know.” Miles takes a step closer to them. “Keamy gunned down most of Locke’s people looking for Linus. So, when he gets here, we’d better be anywhere else, ‘cause I think he’d really like to kill us too.”

Dan and Charlotte exchange a look. Charlotte scans the beach over his shoulder, and must see Kate with the baby because her face falls. “They’re all dead?”

“Everyone but James Ford, John Locke, Hugo Reyes, and the kid. Linus made it out too.”

“That’s good,” Charlotte says bitterly. “Maybe he can get himself killed so Keamy will call off the hunt. He’s s going to use the secondary protocol.”

“You don’t get it.” Miles shakes his head. “Keamy shot Linus’s freaking daughter in front of him, okay? They blew up one of the houses. They aren’t gonna stop until we’re all dead. So, like I said, we should find a way to get out of here.”

But to where? They don’t have a way off the island without Frank, and the helicopter doesn’t have enough gas to get to anyplace safe even if he were able to get the three of them out. That leaves running into the jungle and hoping they don’t run into anyone unfriendly. That does mean Linus’s people, who are probably lurking around, and that monster.

The man’s words ring in his head. When it’s time to make a choice, don’t leave.

“I have an idea,” Dan says firmly. He’s staring at the horizon, and for a moment Miles wants to snap at him to come back to reality. He turns to look at where Dan’s staring, and sees Sayid drawing close to the shore in one of the Kahana’s rafts.

Charlotte shakes her head. “We can’t just steal that. We don’t have any weapons, they’d shoot us for trying.”

“I’m not thinking about stealing,” Dan says, eyes determined. “I’m thinking we should start getting people off the island instead.”

Miles whips around to look at Dan. “Genius, we don’t have the time to play hero to all these people. They won’t even all fit on that.”

“Then we take as many trips as we can.” Dan straightens his back and stands a little taller. “It’s the only way to make this right, and it’s the only way for us to get off the island without trying to find Frank. So excuse me.”

He starts jogging towards the shoreline as Sayid reaches the beach. Charlotte gapes at his retreating back, and Miles turns towards her with a look of surprise. “Wow. Dan’s taking charge now? That’s new.”

Charlotte is watching Dan’s retreating back with a strange look on her face. She doesn’t respond, and Miles idly considers making another joke about her and Dan to lighten the mood, but something stops him. 

The man had said that Charlotte was looking for something too. Miles isn't sure if that was a trick or not, but he's going to find out exactly what her deal is, and soon. 

* * *

Dan makes it to the Kahana and back. By the time he’s reached the shore, Miles has made up his mind.

He’s not sure why he’s staying, but he’s gonna stay. He’s going to get some answers, and hopefully they won’t be so bad he regrets putting his neck on the line for them. Besides, it’s not like he’s gonna get his money now. Hell, Widmore probably has guys waiting in every port to gun down any survivors of the Kahana’s doomed mission. What’s the use of going back just yet?

He’s sitting in the makeshift kitchen area eating peanuts when Dan speeds over to him, motioning for him to follow him.

“Somethin’ wrong with your neck?” Miles teases.

“Follow me, please.” Dan motions Charlotte closer. “I’m leaving in ten minutes to take the next group of people to the freighter. You need to make sure you’re with me on the that raft, okay?”

For a moment, Miles lets himself bask in the fact Dan is worried about both of them. He tries not to show it though, because he’s not gonna go soft just because he’s saying goodbye. “Well, don't worry about me, 'cause I'm gonna stay.”

Dan frowns. “Miles, uh, I don't think I'm getting across the... direness of the circumstance.”

Miles shrugs. “Oh, no, you’re very dire, but I’m still gonna stay.”

Dan pauses. He looks like he wants to say more, but this is Dan Faraday — he’s always moving fast into the future. Miles isn’t sure he’s ever slowed down enough to see the present. So he leaves with a gentle reminder to Charlotte that he’s gone in ten minutes and is already gone, moving towards whatever lies ahead with his usual strange focus.

With a pang, Miles thinks he’s gonna miss him.

Charlotte is still standing there, and Miles can’t resist. “I’m surprised you wanna leave.”

“Sorry?” This seems to genuinely catch her off guard. Miles is a little surprised he’s finally been able to get the jump on her.

“It’s just weird,” he says, testing the waters of what the man told him. “You know, after all that time you spent trying to get back here.”

He’s hit the nail on the head; Charlotte pales. “What do you mean, get back here?”

“What do I mean?” Miles says, then walks away, trying to wrap his mind around the fact that there’s something on the island that knows too much not only about him, but about his teammate too. 

_That means two of us, we’ve been looking for the same place_ , he wonders as he walks away. _Where does that leave Dan then? Why was he chosen?_

Twelve minutes later, Charlotte joins him on the sand, staring out at the ocean.

“You stayed.” It’s less of a comment and more of an observation. 

Charlotte’s eyes are slightly red, as though she’s been crying. “Dan left,” she adds. 

The two of them don’t say much after that.

* * *

They don’t hear the explosion, but they see the smoke.

Charlotte lets out a small gasp. One hand comes to her mouth. “Oh God,” she whispers.

Miles finds he can’t say anything. He swallows a few times, trying to get his brain to work. “He might not have made it,” he offers gently. 

Charlotte glances at him. “Can…. Would you be able to hear him? If he were…?”

Miles shakes his head. “It’s too far away.”

He really doesn’t want to wake up tomorrow to hear Dan’s voice join the whispers he hears on this island.

Charlotte draws her knees to her chest. “I kissed him,” she says slowly. “Before he left. He said if I stayed here now, I could be here forever. So I told him, ‘nothing’s forever.’ And then I kissed him on the cheek and I told him goodbye and I walked away.” She pauses, voice hitching. “I should’ve asked him to stay.”

Miles doesn’t know what to say to that, except for the truth. “If you’d asked, I think he would have.” 

There’s the sound of a muffled sob, and Charlotte wipes at her eyes with the back of her hand. “It’s just us now, I guess.”

“Guess we’re gonna have to learn how to get along,” Miles says weakly. He wants to be funny, to brush this off. Hell, he barely knew Dan that well, he doesn’t need to get sappy because he might be dead. 

Dead.

The word sits heavy on his heart.

Charlotte at least manages a weak laugh. “I guess we are,” she says.

That’s when the island shakes and the sky turns purple-white. Charlotte screams as her hands come up to cover her ears. Miles thinks he might have cried out too as the world shifts and brightens and feels like it’s coming to an end.

Whatever happens though, he realizes, he won’t have to be alone at least.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, a few things:
> 
> 1\. Dan isn't dead but I realized that Charlotte probably thought he died after the freighter blew up so have some angst!
> 
> 2\. Can Miles talk to the smoke monster? I don't know, it's not in the show. But I figured that since the smoke monster is a giant pissed off soul, it would be fun to have Miles be able to sense how hateful the Man in Black is, so this was just me having a lot of fun with Lost's lore. 
> 
> 3\. Christian never talks to Miles in the show either, but Miles says he woke up and saw Claire leave. I wanted to play with the idea of Christian and the island telling Miles to stay, since up until the end of season four Miles seems to really want to get the hell out of Dodge. I also needed a way to have him know something about Charlotte's past for that weird exchange they have in the season four finale.
> 
> Also do you know how many Lostpedia rabbit holes I've gone down researching weird Lost lore? So many. This show has so many layers and I love it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe I'm adding another chapter. Oh well.
> 
> This chapter covers the first three episodes of season five - "Because You Left," "The Lie," and "Jughead." Thanks to Lostpedia for the transcripts.
> 
> So, here's where the "AU - Canon Divergence" comes into play. I start playing faster and looser with the Lost canon here, because Charlotte isn't going to die and I needed a way to a) make it more time sensitive for them to find a way to stop the flashes and b) I love whump and angst. Please read the end of the chapter notes for more of a reason behind why I veer so far off canon at the end!
> 
> Also, thank you all so much for reading this. This fic has been a long time in the making and I'm so glad people are enjoying it!

When the world comes back into focus, the first thing Miles does is head back for the camp with Charlotte. Whatever the fuck that was, Miles thinks it’s probably for the best to be around other people as they figure out what just happened.

The smoke on the horizon is gone. Miles wonders if the freighter’s remains have slipped below the surface, taking their only way off the island with it. He knows he made the choice to stay, but that was back when there was a choice. Now he’s trapped.

The rest of the survivors mill about anxiously. The camp is gone. Tents, food, everything… it’s as if it never existed. Charlotte gives Miles an incredulous look as she stands there, hands on her hips, surveying the scene. Miles mirrors her pose. He doesn’t have any belongings to miss, but the fact that the food is gone? That’s going to be a real problem sooner rather than later.

Sawyer (who’s managed to get rid of his shirt, Miles notes), Juliet, and a couple other survivors run into camp. The older man with them is waving his arms, insisting the camp is gone. His voice is frantic, and Miles can’t really blame him for being worried. He’s starting to get a bit nervous himself.

“It’s not gone.”

“Daniel!” Charlotte runs towards the voice as Miles turns to see Dan, alive and whole, jogging towards the group. He looks as scared as the rest of them, as he runs to Charlotte and pulls her into a hug. His eyes meet Miles’ over her shoulder, and Miles allows himself a small smile.

Dan is alive. That’s one less ghost who will haunt him.

God, he’s relieved. He’s not gonna say it out loud, but he’s relieved.

“I thought you were on the freighter,” Charlotte says breathlessly. 

“No, we never made it,” Dan says gently. “We were on our way there when it happened.”

Ford — Miles supposes if he’s gonna stick around, he might as well switch to calling him Sawyer — interrupts them. “What do you mean, the camp's not gone? Who the hell are you anyway?”

“That’s Dan.” Miles nods. “He’s our physicist.”

Dan is already moving ahead, already looking to the future and their next step. “Listen, we have no time. I need you to take me to something man-made, something that was built, any kind of a landmark.”

“There’s a Dharma station,” Juliet suggests. 

“That's perfect. We should get moving before it happens again, okay?” Dan is already heading towards the jungle, anxious as ever.

Sawyer is still pissed. “Before what happens again? And why is our camp gone?”

“Your camp isn't gone,” Dan says, deadly serious. “It hasn't been built yet.”

Charlotte blinks at that. She turns to Miles, who shrugs in return. He’s never known what Dan was talking about before they got to Magic Island. Why should that change now?

 _Okay_ , he muses as he moves to follow Charlotte, Juliet, and Sawyer as Dan continues to move towards the trees. _This is… weird. Probably the weirdest thing that’s happened to me since I got here, but who’s keeping score?_

* * *

Dan’s newfound confidence seems to grow more and more as they march through the jungle. Miles watches from the back of the group as he urges Sawyer and Juliet to hurry up, rushing past them with an assuredness he most definitely didn’t have before.

“First things first, gimme your shirt,” Sawyer says instead of picking up the pace. Miles has to stifle a laugh at that — Dan’s shirt is not gonna fit. 

Charlotte gives him a pointed look. “Not funny,” she whispers.

“It is,” Miles says back just as quietly. “It’s real funny. Imagine Sawyer putting it on and it just rips —“

“Shhh!”

Dan rolls his eyes. “I really think we have far more pressing matters than me giving you a shirt. How about we just keep moving, okay?” He sounds confident and almost patronizing, and Miles is a little taken aback at this new Dan. On the boat, Dan wouldn’t have tried to boss around anyone. It would’ve been cute but no one would’ve taken him seriously. It’s like he went from nerd to action hero in the space of his time on the island.

“Okay, I get it now,” Miles whispers. “Dan got hot.”

“Shush,” Charlotte says, cheeks a faint pink.

Dan and Sawyer are still bickering, voices rising in frustration. Dan snaps first. “We really do not have time for me to try to explain. You have no idea how difficult that would be for me to try to explain this—this phenomenon to a quantum physicist. That would be difficult, so for me to try to explain whatever is happening—!”

Sawyer hits him.

Charlotte lunges forward. “Oi! What in bloody hell do you think you’re doing?”

“Shut it, Ginger, or you’re getting one too,” Sawyer snarls.

Miles hovers towards the back of the group, but his fists clench at his sides. Dan looks vicious for a moment at Sawyer’s words, but Charlotte stays quiet. At least neither of them will have to rush forward to defend her honor — Miles can fight a bit, but Dan looks damn useless in a fight and he’s pretty sure Sawyer would kick both of their asses.

He would’ve though. If Sawyer had hit Charlotte, or tried to hit Dan again, he’d have said something. Done something.

“Talk.” Sawyer growls in Dan’s direction.

“The island…,” Dan sighs, and pauses for a moment. “Think of the Island like a record spinning on a turntable, only now, that record is skipping. Whatever Ben Linus did down at the Orchid station... I think it may have... dislodged us.”

That’s enough to get Miles to speak up. “Dislodged us from what?”

Dan looks directly at Miles. “Time.”

Yeah. Officially, this is the weirdest thing that’s happened to him ever. 

* * *

The sky turns white again, and the roar returns, and when it all stops it’s fucking dark out. Dan tells them they’re either in the future or the past, which is maddeningly unhelpful to anyone, and then doesn’t say anything else as he continues to walk with Juliet towards whatever landmark she’s promised to take them too.

Charlotte lingers in the back with Miles. “Do you think he’s looking for us?”

“Who?”

“Widmore.” Charlotte says the name matter of factly, with no fear at all. Miles chalks that up to her not having to flee from Keamy through the jungle. 

“It took him, like, 20 years to find this place the first time. I'll start holding my breath now,” he grumbles. Charlotte looks mildly put out at that, and Miles almost adds that the whole time travel thing means that Widmore will more than likely find their decaying skeletons, when they arrive at the hatch.

Or what was the hatch. It’s more of a hole now. 

Sawyer takes this as a cue to go back to the beach, to warn his people. Miles can’t blame him. There’s more than a few decisions he’s made he’d like to warn his past self away from making if he got the chance to travel through time, though he hopes that if he ever has to go through this again, it's on his own terms.

Dan, though, has objections. “Time—it's like a street, all right? We can move forward on that street, we can move in reverse, but we cannot ever create a new street. If we try to do anything different, we will fail every time. Whatever happened, happened.”

Miles realizes as he talks that he knows very little about Dan. He knows about Theresa, he knows that he had memory troubles, that he’s kind and talks too much and wants to be loved very badly. But this, this Dan, who takes charge and who knows too much about time travel? This is a new Dan. One he and Charlotte haven’t met before.

Sawyer seems to have the same question. “How do you know so much about this, Danny Boy?”

Dan sighs, and pulls his journal out of his pack. “I know about this because... I've spent my entire adult life studying space-time. I know all this because this journal contains everything I've ever learned about the DHARMA Initiative. This is why I'm here. I know what's happening.”

Miles’ mind moves fast at that. Miles was brought here because of his own connection to the island, and so, it seems, was Charlotte. Now the third member of their team has his own little secrets.

Miles wonders why Dan never brought it up before. He’s always been keen to talk about everything else. Did he just not remember? Or was it something else?

* * *

They jump through time once more before they head back to camp. Dan stays behind though, mumbling some explanation about his pack being missing. He’s not a good liar, but Sawyer and Juliet are wrapped up in their shared grief and Charlotte is too smitten to notice.

He comes back after the next flash. Charlotte greets him with a hug. Miles just watches him, sitting propped up against a tree. He’s not the hugging kind, and he’d thought Charlotte wasn’t either. Guess Dan changes that.

There’s discussion of trying to get away on the Zodiac raft, but Dan insists he’d need to calculate proper bearings. The rest of them he shoos away.

“I’m gonna go find us something to eat,” Miles says.

“And how are you planning on doing that?” Juliet asks. 

“Don’t worry about it,” he says.

Charlotte, annoyingly enough, follows him. “Are the ghosts gonna tell you where the nearest grocery store is?”

“Hey, maybe you can excavate some food for us. Put that fancy degree to use,” Miles retorts.

Charlotte holds up her hand in mock surrender. “Touchy, are we?”

“I don’t like getting thrown around by time travel.” Miles rolls his eyes. “Your boyfriend’s back on the beach, go dote on him.”

“I thought we’d reached an agreement on those jokes,” Charlotte warns. “Namely, I thought you’d stop making them.”

“Listen, Charlotte, I know you have a need to bother everyone, but I need some space to just… deal with this, okay?” Miles rolls his eyes. “Seriously. I don’t need a babysitter, I’ll be back with food later. I promise.”

Charlotte, annoyingly, doesn’t turn around. “I’m worried about you,” she says. “We both are.”

“So you and Dan are a we now?”

That’s enough to get her to snap. “Fine. You want to get yourself killed? Go ahead.”

Miles looks over his shoulder in time to see her retreating back towards the beach. _That’s fine,_ he tells himself. _She doesn’t really care that much either._

* * *

He shows up on the beach a few hours later with a boar, which he’s pretty psyched about.

And that’s when the arrows start flying.

Fucking flaming arrows, which is a whole new layer of bullshit Miles does not want to be dealing with. So he runs. 

Across the beach, he sees Dan and Charlotte running away, hand in hand. Charlotte trips and Dan runs back to help her up. As he does so, he sees Miles.

“Miles!” Dan tugs Charlotte in his direction; when they reach Miles, Dan slings his pack onto his shoulder and offers his now free hand to Miles. “C’mon!”

Miles gapes at him for a moment, and then surprises himself by grabbing Dan’s hand. His hand is warm and soft and Miles tells himself he most certainly doesn’t squeeze it as they sprint into the jungle, holding on to something familiar by holding onto each other.

Life and death are things Miles is intimately familiar with. He knows that the dead carry regrets, un-lived dreams and too many secrets. Now, with death at his heels again, he realizes he does have a few things he’d like to live for.

After what seems like an hour but what's probably only a few minutes, they stop in the jungle. There’s a couple others from the beach who followed them, all staring around with wide and frightened eyes.

“You okay?” Dan is looking at Miles intently, with the same focus he looks at Charlotte with. Miles is painfully aware suddenly of the fact the three of them are still holding hands, like kids on a field trip.

He drops Dan’s hand quickly. “Yeah, I guess.”

Charlotte winces, hand coming to her temple. “Jesus, this bloody headache.”

Dan’s attention shifts to her. His brow furrows. “Charlotte -?”

“I’m fine,” she saids firmly. “Don’t worry about me.”

One of the survivors looks at them. “I heard Sawyer say to meet at the creek.”

“You manage to catch which part of the creek he wants to meet at?” Miles looks around. “Also, where’s the creek? We’re new here, remember?”

Dan sighs. “Let’s just… let’s just try to find them. It’ll be okay. I promise.”

The last part of that is directed at him and Charlotte. Miles notices that he’s still holding Charlotte’s hand.

As they begin to trek forward through the darkness, Miles allows himself to admit that yeah, maybe he does have something of a crush on Charlotte. One on Dan too. 

It’s less of a crush — which invokes the image him doodling “Mr. Miles Faraday-Lewis” all over his diary, and he hates that — and more of a desire to be part of something. He doesn’t want to be alone out here. 

This level of emotional vulnerability is almost as terrifying as the external dangers. Miles hasn’t really been in love before. 

Go figure. He falls for two people, and they’re both obsessed with each other. What a lucky break.

* * *

“Some rendezvous. It's just us,” Miles grumbles as they survey the creek. There’s no one there but the five of them.

“Well, we should probably wait, see if they show up. They could be right behind us,” Dan says, ever the optimist.

Charlotte’s far more practical about it all. “Yeah, or they came and left.

“Or they’re dead.” Miles likes to think of himself as a realist.

Dan sighs. When he speaks, it’s without malice. “Miles, that right there, that kind of attitude... not exactly what we need right now. People are scared enough as it is. Miles—Miles?”

But Miles’ attention is far more focused on the fact that, for what seems to be the millionth time since he got here, they’re walking into a trap. He spots the mine and tries to warn the others. “Wait!! Don’t move!!”

The explosions kill the other two survivors almost instantly. Miles throws himself down to the ground, covering his head. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Dan and Charlotte also going for cover, Dan sheltering Charlotte as best he can. 

The world is sound and fury for a moment, and then it quiets. 

They’re not alone though. Five guys armed with bow and arrows all appear out of nowhere, taking aim at the three of them. The sixth has a gun; the blonde girl is little more than a teenager and Miles wants to know what the hell she’s doing out here when she looks like she should be stealing lunch money from people like him.

He can hear the whispers of the dead around him, the newly dead. _Others, the Others are here, they’re here._

“Who’s in charge?” The girl’s voice is sharp and cruel.

“He is,” Miles says without thinking. 

The girl points her gun at Dan. Charlotte flinches. 

“You just couldn’t stay away,” she says coldly. 

For a moment, Miles thinks she’s going to shoot.

Then she turns to her men. “Tie them up. We’re taking them to Richard.”

Miles is unceremoniously dragged to his feet. One of the men takes out a rope and quickly ties his wrists and Miles remembers his experiences with Locke. Somehow, he doubts this will be any more pleasant for anyone.

He glances over at Dan and Charlotte, who are getting similar treatments.

“There were twenty of you at the beach, but only five of you here. Where are the rest of your people?” The teenager directs her question at Dan. Miles almost feels guilty about putting the target on him.

Instead, he says “Maybe they got blown up by some more of your land mines.”

“We didn’t put them here. You did.” Blondie gives Miles a dismissive sneer before turning back to Dan. “Once we leave here, I will be out of control of what happens to you. But if you cooperate now, things will go much easier for you. So where are the rest of your people?”

Dan doesn’t have an answer, for once. “I don’t know.”

* * *

Miles hates walking over fresh graves. He really hates it. But they’re good sources of information.

“Four U.S. soldiers, dead just under a month. Three of them were shot. One died of radiation poisoning,” he tells Dan.

“Hey, hey, did any of them happen to mention what year it is?” 

Miles goes to answer, but their teenage captor interrupts. “We’re here.”

Here is a camp of drab, military-looking tents. Miles tries to take in as many details as possible as he walks to certain torture and death. Blondie calls out for Richard, and a man emerges from one tent. He’s clearly the leader. 

“Caught these three by the creek.” Blondie gestures to Dan. “This one's their leader.”

The man sizes him up. “What’s your name?”

Dan shrugs. “What’s your name?”

Miles can’t help but grin at that. 

The man responds with a tight smiles. “My name is Richard Alpert. I assume you’ve come back for your bomb.”

And that, that right there? That wasn’t the answer that Miles expected.

* * *

“Hey! Take it easy!” Dan says as they’re all shoved into a tent. He’s scowling, and Miles would think it’s cute that he’s so protective if they weren’t facing their deaths.

He says as much as he drops onto a bench. “We are so dead.”

“Hey. No, no, no. We are not so dead.” Dan crouches down between Miles and Charlotte, tone gentle as ever. "We're gonna be fine. We just need to keep it together until there's another flash. All right? Then all this disappears.”

“And when that gonna happen?”

“Could be five minutes.” Dan pauses. “Could also be 5,000 years.”

Miles exhales. “That’s… that’s just awesome.”

Dan and Charlotte start talking about their captors as Miles allows himself to listen for any helpful voices. Outside of the usual hum, there’s no kind soul who offers them a way out. So here he is, useless as the rest of them.

When Richard and the blonde girl, Ellie apparently, come back in, Dan tries to diffuse the situation. There’s some bomb on the island, and it’s compromised, and Dan can fix it. He can save the day.

“How do I know you weren't sent here on some suicide mission? That I'll take you out to the bomb, and you'll just detonate it?” Richard cocks his head to the side, voice cold. 

Dan looks at Charlotte, then Miles. He closes his eyes. “Because….” He opens them, and Miles can see he’s made a decision. “Because I’m in love with the woman sitting next to me. And I would never… I’d never do anything to hurt her.”

Richard says something else, but Miles can’t quite hear it over the sudden ringing in his ears. He knew Dan was in love with Charlotte, he’d have to have been an idiot not to, but hearing it said out loud burns him somehow. Dan loves Charlotte, and she probably loves him back, and that’s fine and great and they’ll have each other.

And Miles will be left alone.

Miles feels his face get hot. He doesn’t understand why he’s this upset over a silly… a silly what? A schoolyard crush on two weirdos who don’t give a damn about him? It’s not like he’s in love with Dan, or with Charlotte. He doesn’t care.

He knows it’s a lie though, even as he tells himself it’s not.

* * *

“A hydrogen bomb?” Miles asks when he has his voice back, as he paces to distract himself from the rush of emotions he feels. “Seriously?”

“Back in the 50s, the U.S. Government tested H-bombs in the South Pacific,” Dan says.

“Lucky us.” Miles says sarcastically.

Charlotte, for once, looks quiet and nervous. Miles turns away so he can give them some privacy as she says “You didn’t have to say that. That you loved me. I mean, there are plenty of other ways you could’ve convinced him you weren’t going to blow up the entire island…”

When Dan replies, his voice is so tender that it breaks Miles’ heart a little. “I said what I said because I meant it, Charlotte.”

He pauses. “Miles, I…”

Ellie chooses that moment to return. “Right then, let’s go.”

Dan’s words die on his lips. Instead, he says, “back soon. I promise.”

When he leaves, Charlotte exhales. “Miles…”

“Don’t.” Miles says sharply. “I don’t want your pity.”

Charlotte sighs. “Okay,” she says flatly. After a pause, she adds. “He still cares about you.”

“That, that right there? That’s pity.” Miles glares at her. “Let’s just sit here quietly and hope for the fucking best.”

The tent is silent after that.

* * *

Two hostiles come into their tent about forty minutes later. Miles and Charlotte are grabbed roughly and shoved out into the light. Miles sees Richard, Dan, and Ellie standing there. Dan is talking wildly, gesturing frantically. Ellie looks eager to shoot.

Richard sees their approach. “You said you didn’t want to hurt her. Yes?”

Dan looks terrified. “I swear to you, I am telling you the truth…”

“Really?” Richard scoffs. “Time travel? That’s the truth here?”

“You told him?” Miles snaps.

Dan looks at Richard pleadingly. “I promise. Please, please listen to me. We have to bury the bomb or it will go off. Please, listen to me!”

“I told you he was a liar,” Ellie interjects. “We don’t need them, Richard. They’re useless.”

The sentiment is clear. They should kill them.

Miles glances at Charlotte, who’s eyes are fixed on Dan.

Richard sighs, then motions for another man, one with bright blue eyes who looks to be the same age and Ellie. “Widmore, take him out of here. Get him to talk.”

Miles stares in shock. _Widmore?_

Richard turns to Miles and Charlotte. “Take the woman away.” He glances at Ellie. “Shoot the other one. That should get the message across.”

“No!” Charlotte struggles as she’s being pulled away.

The next three things happen almost at once.

Miles watches in stunned horror as Ellie raises the gun, taking aim directly at him. He is going to die here, whenever and wherever here is. This is the end. He’s gonna find out what death is really like firsthand.

Beside him, Dan lets out a snarled “NO” and tears free from his captor — from Widmore — and puts himself between Miles and Ellie, hands outstretched. “Don’t shoot —!”

The sky, blessedly, turns white and the island roars as they jump again and Miles swears he might hear a gunshot but the sound is almost quiet next to the thrum of them moving through time and space and god, his fucking head, it feels like it’s gonna explode —

And then they’re in the clearing, only there are no tents or soldiers. The sky is cloudy overheard, and Miles isn’t dead.

He isn’t dead.

“Hey!”

Miles turns to see Sawyer and Juliet jogging towards them, followed by Locke. “Nice timing,” he calls out. “We’ve been waiting for you to show up.”

He glares at Locke. “Listen, if you’ve got another grenade…”

“Daniel?”

Charlotte’s voice cuts through the conversation. She sounds frantic.

Miles turns. Dan is still in front of him, but he’s swaying on his feet. “Hey, Dan?”

Dan turns. He offers Miles a weak smile. “Sorry,” he says, before he collapses, red blossoming on his right shoulder through his shirt.

The red is too bright, Miles thinks. It’s too bright.

Charlotte lets out a wordless cry. She runs to Daniel and drops to her knees, still-bound hands hovering over his chest. “Daniel? Dan, it’s okay. Just keep looking at me.” She presses her hands to Dan’s injury and Dan lets out a weak sound of pain.

Miles takes a few steps and drops down to his knees as well. Dan took a fucking bullet for him. For him. 

Not Charlotte. 

Him.

Dan looks between them. He frowns. “Charlotte, your… your nose…”

Miles looks at her. “Did someone hit you?”

Charlotte’s nose is bleeding. She looks woozy but she shakes her head. “No one touched me.” Her face contorts in pain briefly, and Miles can see her grit her teeth as she tries to focus on putting pressure on Dan's wound.

Miles looks between her and Dan. His own bound hands hover uselessly over Dan’s torso. He thinks back to the freighter, to the conversation in Dan’s berth. _Maybe Dan will die._

He'd said that as a damn joke, not as a wish.

“Someone help!!!” Miles glances over his shoulder towards Juliet and Sawyer. “Someone help us, _now!_ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, poor Dan.
> 
> What happens that leads to Dan being brought back to camp is that Dan tries his "I'm from the future"/time travel schtick on Ellie, Ellie doesn't believe him, and Sawyer and Juliet are just a few steps behind this go around. So Ellie brings him back to explain this new fuckery to Richard, and the rest is fanfic.
> 
> I needed a way for Dan to show that he has feelings for Miles, because I doubt he'd feel comfortable saying he was in love with two people in front of total strangers, especially when one of those people is a guy and they're stuck in the 1950s. Ergo, he chooses to use his feelings for Charlotte then, but when Miles is threatened, Dan jumps into action. Is it cheesy? Yes. But I'm not Damon Lindeolf or Carlton Cuse so I can do whatever self indulgent thing I'd like!
> 
> I promise, this fic does not have an unhappy ending. The next chapter will contain a fair bit of angst and borderline whump, but it will all be okay by the time it ends. The chapter that follows will contain the more explicitly romantic sections though, so if you want to skip the next chapter and just pick up at chapter six, I totally, totally get it!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this week is horrible and it threw me for a loop, but I think this chapter is either halfway decent or the worst thing I've ever written.
> 
> It escalates quickly in this chapter, folks. It really does.

The blood is still far too red and bright against the green of the grass.

Miles keeps his distance, standing a few feet away from where Juliet and Charlotte are tending to Dan. His hands, now free, hang useless at his sides, stained red with Dan’s blood. There’s a stream nearby, and he knows he should get up and wash his hands off, but he’s tired and his head aches and he doesn’t want to move.

Sawyer paces a few feet away, as Locke tries to explain some mystic, confusing bullshit. Miles catches a few phrases here and there — there are survivors who made it off the island, Kate is still alive, they have to bring everyone back — but his attention is focused on Dan.

Dan is sitting upright at least. Charlotte, her face streaked with blood from where she tried to stop her nosebleed, is supporting him as Juliet examines the wound. “You’re lucky,” she says gently. “The bullet missed your brachial artery. It doesn’t seem like it didn’t hit bone either.”

Dan winces. His tie, which Juliet had removed earlier to better open his shirt and access his injury, lies in his lap; he fiddles with the fabric and twists it tight in his hands when it hurts. Charlotte’s hand rests on his wrist.

Miles pointedly tries to keep from staring.

Dan keeps glancing at him; shy, furtive looks over Juliet’s shoulder in between winces of pain. If Miles catches him looking, he looks away. They play this game for a few minutes before Charlotte catches on.

“Miles, just come over here, please.” She sounds exhausted. “Dan, stop that, you need to stay still.”

For once, Miles doesn’t try to come up with a snappy comeback. He simply walks over and crouches down next to Charlotte. 

“So, who wants to share what happened?” Juliet’s voice is level. She spares at glance at Miles before returning her attention to Dan.

“We were in the 1950s,” Charlotte says. “Some military men, American, had brought a hydrogen bomb to the island. They thought we were here to retrieve it.” She pauses. “One of them was told to shoot Miles. Dan tried to stop it.”

“A bomb?” Sawyer had wandered close enough to hear that. “Great. Anything else weird on this island you wanna tell us about?”

“James, not now.” Juliet is focused on Dan. “There’s not much I can do about your shoulder, not without any supplies,” she admits. “We can try to clean the wound as best we can with water, but unless we get you proper medical attention, this is gonna get infected.”

Dan frowns. “I didn’t think she would shoot,” he says, mostly to himself.

Miles files that away as a question for another day. 

“We could try to find the Staff station, or any Dharma stations currently on the island,” Juliet continues. “But with these flashes, the likelihood of us being able to find medical supplies and use them is low.”

Charlotte grimaces. “Then we find a way to stop it.”

Sawyer turns to Locke. “You got any suggestions about how to do that, Mr. Clean?”

Locke nods. “The Orchid. That’s where all this started. Maybe it’s where it’ll all stop.”

As Sawyer and Locke continue debating whether or not that plan makes sense, Miles keeps his attention on Dan. “What do you think, genius?”

Dan shrugs. “We have to find some way to stop the record from skipping.” He sounds defeated though, in a way Miles has never heard before. “We’re all gonna die otherwise.”

“Nobody is dying,” Charlotte says firmly. “We’ll find a way to stop this.”

Miles wishes he had her conviction. Right now, he feels sick and shaken and pissed off, though exactly at who he can’t decide. Dan glances up at him, and the apologetic expression on his face only makes it worse.

“I gotta clean up,” Miles says abruptly. He pushes himself to his feet and heads to the creek, intent on washing Dan’s blood off. A part of him knows he’ll have to address the fact Dan nearly died for him, but he buries that part deep down. 

_When I’m ready,_ he thinks, _that’s when we’ll talk about it._

* * *

Two more flashes happen as they trek through the jungle. Miles has no idea what day it’s supposed to be any longer, or when the last time was that he slept. His head aches. And after the second flash, his nose starts bleeding.

Charlotte’s nose keeps bleeding too. She looks unsteady on her feet where she follows Dan, arm tied up in a makeshift sling made out of his tie. They make an interesting pair, both limping and struggling along to the beach. Every so often, Dan will trip, and Charlotte will right him, and her hands will linger a fraction too long.

Miles tries not to be jealous. Really. 

When Charlotte hurries ahead to ask Juliet a question, Miles approaches Dan.

“Hey,” he says. “I, uh, I just got a nosebleed.”

Dan can’t quite conceal the flash of terror in his eyes. “What? When?”

“Let's just not freak out the others, okay?” Miles glances around, lowering his voice. “Just tell me... why her? Why me?”

“I think it might have something to do with duration of exposure. You know, the amount of time you've spent on the island.”

“That doesn't make any sense,” Miles scoffs. “Those yahoos have been here for months. I've never been here before two weeks ago.”

Dan gives him a piercing look. “Are you sure about that?”

Miles thinks back to what the man in the jungle said. About his own lack of knowledge about his past. About his father. 

He decides it’s better not to reply, and is saved from any more of Dan’s questions by their arrival at the beach. It looks even shittier than usual — the tents are trashed, the food is gone, and there’s no one around.

The raft is gone as well, replaced by two canoes that no one can identify.

“We’re going to have to take one of the canoes,” Locke announces. “If we want to make it to the Orchid, they’re our best option.”

Dan looks at one nervously. “I’m, uh, not sure how good I’m gonna be with a paddle right now.”

“It’s okay,” Charlotte says gently. “We’ll be fine.”

After a few hours of rowing, Miles isn’t sure if that’s true. It’s hard work, and they feel like they’re getting nowhere. He paddles furiously, staring at Dan’s back; the other man sits in front of him, shoulders slightly hunched.

“This plan sounded a hell of a lot better when we were going by motorboat,” Miles says half to himself before shouting up towards where Locke sits. “How far is this place?”

“It's around that point. Not more than a couple hours.” Locke sounds maddeningly unbothered by this, and Miles hates him more.

“Oh, joy,” he mutters.

Sawyer and Juliet are talking in low tones, but when Miles tries to listen in, their situation goes from bad to worse.

Some assholes start shooting at them.

As everyone ducks down and Sawyer roars at them to paddle, Miles flinches. “Dan, stay down!”

Dan glances over his shoulder as he ducks down, eyes frightened. “Miles —“

“They’re not gonna hurt you, okay, just as long as you stay down!” Behind them, Juliet is returning fire as the rest of them paddle as hard as they can. Miles’s arms ache from the effort but he forces himself to keep going. He can’t give up now. 

The sky decides to turn white at this moment. Miles can hear Sawyer shout “thank you, Lord” over the thrumming sound; he grips his paddle tighter and winces as the noise makes his head pound like it’s about to explode.

When the light stops, it’s night. And it’s raining.

“I take that back!” Sawyer yells at the sky.

Eventually, they make it to shore, falling out of the canoe and collapsing onto the sand. Miles wipes the blood off his face and turns to see Charlotte helping Dan move farther up away from the water. He hurries to join them, to get away from the surf and find someplace safe to rest.

“Remind me never to do that again,” he says as the three of them finally sit down on the sand under the cover of a tree.

Dan’s face is tight with pain. “I’m sorry,” he says, for what seems like the thousandth time.

“Why are you sorry?” Miles longs to sleep, and the exhaustion makes his words come out harsher than he intends. “Jesus, it’s not like you deliberately got yourself shot.”

“No…” Dan shakes his head. “No, this is my fault. I should’ve made us all leave on the raft.”

“So we could get blown up on the boat?” Miles shakes his head. “There’s no use looking back. Not right now anyway.”

Dan looks like he wants to say more, but he starts swaying on the spot. He leans into Charlotte, and she brushes wet hair off his face, frowning. “You’re burning up.”

She looks at Miles, and for once he sees her looking well and truly terrified.

* * *

Dan’s fever gets worse the farther they travel.

So do Charlotte’s nosebleeds.

Miles knows he looks like shit too, and he tries to keep it together as best he can. Juliet’s nose has started bleeding too, which means it’s almost a matter of time before Locke and Sawyer also get their brains melted.

There’s a small miracle though. They find a survivor from the freighter explosion. 

“Where'd that guy come from? I thought he was on the boat,” Miles asks Dan, trying not to notice how pale he looks.

Dan closes his eyes, trying to focus. “The blast must've thrown him in the water. He's been moving with every flash, just like us.”

The man — Jin — doesn’t seem to speak any English. Sawyer rounds on Miles. “Translate.”

Miles glares at him. “Uh, he's Korean. I'm from Encino.”

As it turns out, Charlotte can translate. Miles knew she spoke several languages, but this is a surprise. He watches her work with a small smirk on this face; he glances over and sees Dan watching her with a look of pride on his pained face.

He falls behind them as they walk, listening to Dan check in on Charlotte and ask her about what languages she speaks.

“Just a few. And some Klingon,” she says. “Dan, do you need to rest?”

“I’m fine,” Dan replies. “Really. We’ll… we’ll stop this soon. And then we can find a doctor.”

“Is this going to work?”

“It, uh, it makes empirical sense,” Dan says, “that if this started at the Orchid then that’s where it stops. But bringing back the people who left to stop the temporal shifts?”

He stumbles a little after that. Charlotte catches him by his good arm. “We should rest,” she calls up to the head of the group.

The next flash happens. Miles tries to keep on his feet, letting out a hoarse scream as the light and sound envelops him. 

He sees something — _Dan at a piano, playing alongside some rock band; Miles is watching from the crowd with Charlotte sitting beside him_ — but as soon as the image is there, it’s gone as the light recedes.

_What the fuck was that?_

As Miles straightens up and wipes away his nosebleed, the world comes back into sharp focus. It’s not a pleasant sight that greets him.

Dan is on the ground, kneeling next to Charlotte. She’s fainted, blood streaking her face from a fresh nosebleed. Dan is gently stroking her hair with one hand, repeating her name over and over.

Juliet drops down next to him. “Charlotte? Can you hear me?”

Miles feels nauseous. He hates this, hates seeing Dan or Charlotte hurt or covered with blood. He’s tired of this. All he wants is to rest, is to be somewhere safe where he and his… his friends will be okay.

Charlotte’s eyes flutter open. She starts speaking in rapid Korean to Jin, eyes fixed on him.

“What’d she say?” Sawyer asks.

Charlotte switches to English. “Don't let them bring her back. No matter what—don't let them bring her back! This place is death!”

_This place is death_. The same thought Miles had had what feels like years ago. He shivers at that.

* * *

_Aren’t we a sight_ , Miles thinks as he sits down next to Charlotte, taking Juliet’s place at her side. _The three would-be rescuers, except two of us are dying._ ** _I’m_** _probably dying too._

Juliet is talking with Sawyer, Locke, and Jin; Miles knows she’s worried about traveling with Charlotte and Dan in their respective conditions. The group talks in low tones, but Miles doesn’t much care about hearing what they have to say.

Charlotte keeps flickering from bad to worse. The next time she speaks, she sounds like a little kid. “Why can't Daddy come with us?”

"Charlotte?” Dan’s eyes are focused on her face. “Charlotte, can you hear me?”

Charlotte winces, then nods. After a second, her face shifts into something teasing. “Mum would be furious if she knew I fancied an American, let alone two.”

That leaves an odd feeling in Miles’ stomach. “Hey, hey, Charlotte? Come on, talk to us.”

Charlotte’s eyes find his face. After a moment, she says “… Miles?”

Miles nods. “Yeah.”

The other group breaks up and turns to them. “We’ve gotta keep moving,” Sawyer says firmly. 

Dan nods. He tries to rise to his feet, even more unsteady than normal. “Help me get her on her feet. We might have to carry her.”

“No,” Locke says. “She’s going to hold us up.” He pauses. “And so are you.”

Dan frowns. “So what? You wanna just, just leave us here?”

Juliet shakes her head. “I’ll stay with you both,” she offers. 

Another flash follows her words. When the sky goes back to normal, Dan is doubled over in pain. Charlotte’s eyes keep fluttering closed.

“We have to move, now.” Locke’s tone doesn’t leave room for questions.

Sawyer looks at Juliet. “Listen, Blondie…”

“No arguments, James.” Juliet sighs. “I’ll stay with them. You just hurry back, okay?”

“I’ll stay.”

Miles surprises himself when he says that. The group turns to look at him; all save Charlotte, who’s staring at the sky and muttering about Geronimo Jackson. 

“I’ll stay with them,” he repeats. “Juliet, you should go with Sawyer and the others. Besides, they’re… they’re my team.”

He can’t quite bring himself to look at Dan right now. He can feel the other man’s eyes on him though, and that’s enough for now.

Juliet gives him one of those looks she’s so fond of, the one where she seems to know every secret you’ve ever had. “Okay,” she says simply.

Sawyer turns to Locke. “Let me ask you something, John. If we don't even know when the hell we are, what happens if the Orchid ain't around anymore?”

Charlotte is the one who replies. “Look for the well. You'll find it at the well.”

* * *

“Why’d you stay?”

It’s one of Charlotte’s rare lucid moments. Her bright gaze is fixed on Miles, sizing him up. At her side, Dan is looking at Miles too, with such an open expression that it pains him to see it. Dan might have his own secrets, but when it comes to his emotions, he’s guileless as ever.

Miles shrugs. “Figured we could all stick together.”

Charlotte looks like she wants to say more, but then her gaze clouds over. “I know more about Ancient Carthage than Hannibal himself,” she says proudly to no one in particular.

Dan is shivering despite the heat. He looks between the two of them now. “It’s gonna be okay,” he says. “You're gonna be fine. Everything's gonna be okay. I've got a plan... When we were back at the hatch, I talked to Desmond. I told him to find my mother. She can help us.” He pauses. “I swear, I thought she would help us.”

He sighs, then looks at Miles. “That was my mother. The girl who held us prisoner. The one… the one who shot me.” He shivers more violently, and when he speaks again his voice breaks. “I didn’t think she would shoot…”

Miles feels woozy. His vision swims a little, and he blinks to clear his head. “You couldn’t have known,” he says simply.

“She sent me here,” Dan says, despair in his voice. “She sent me here to _die_.”

“You’re not gonna die,” Miles says firmly. “You won’t.”

“How do you know?” 

Miles sighs. “I don’t, okay? But you’re ready to give up, and I’m not.”

Dan closes his eyes. “…I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, you keep saying that,” Miles grumbles. “You keep saying that, and I still don’t know why you’re sorry.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t say I loved you too.”

That’s enough to bring the world to a screeching halt.

Miles looks at Dan, confusion and something akin to hope stirring inside him. “You’re joking, right?”

Dan shakes his head. “I, uh, I didn’t know if it was safe to say. I, I didn’t know how to explain that I’m in love with both of you, without it seeming like it was just a ploy to get to the bomb.”

Miles blinks. “Dan, seriously, don’t fuck around like this.”

“I’m not.” Dan has tears in his eyes. “I didn’t know, so I picked Charlotte, because I love her. I do. But then they were — they were gonna shoot you and I didn’t know what to do. So I’m sorry that I didn’t say it.”

This feels like a goodbye. Dan’s hand is tight around Charlotte’s, and Charlotte is off in her own world, and Miles feels like they’re both saying goodbye. 

He doesn’t want that.

“Dan, stop.”

Dan ducks his head down. “Miles…”

“Stop. Stop talking like you’re about to die, okay?” The words spill out of Miles before he can stop them. “Neither of you are going to die, because that would mean you dragged me out here and left me all alone, and if you love me? You’re not gonna do that. Okay?”

Dan nods once.

“When we get out of this, we’re gonna have a little chat about our feelings. But only when we’re out of this. So you’re not allowed to die on me, Faraday.” Miles hopes he sounds more convinced than he feels. 

Dan nods again.

Miles sighs. “You two can’t be comfortable there. Help me move her.”

Slowly, they move Charlotte up against the tree near the creek. Miles sits between them, Dan leaning against his right side and Charlotte against his left. In his lap, Dan still holds Charlotte’s hand. There’s nothing but the three of them and the sound of running water. 

Charlotte shifts slightly. “I’m not allowed to have chocolate before dinner,” she mumbles. 

“It’s okay,” Miles says gently. “It’s okay.”

He hopes it is. He prays it will be okay.

* * *

The next flash comes with sound and fury, but Miles’ head feels clearer when it’s over. He wonders if the record stopped skipping, like Dan said. 

For a moment, he wonders if he’s alone, if they died during that last flash. Then Charlotte stirs and groans next to him. For a moment, she presses her face into his shoulder. It’s nice. It feels domestic, like they’re waking up from a nap and not some time travel hell dream.

Charlotte blinks as she sits up. “What… what happened?”

“Welcome back.” Miles raises an eyebrow. “You said some weird shit earlier.”

Charlotte furrows her brow a little. “What?”

Miles takes pity on her. “We’ll chat about it later.” He turns to Dan. “Hey, genius, Charlotte’s awake.”

Dan blearily looks over. “Charlotte,” he says with a small smile.

“Do you think it’s over?” Miles peers up at the sky, daring it to turn white again. He’s really fucking over time travel.

“Well, I feel better,” Charlotte announces, rubbing her head. “Maybe that’s a good sign.”

“Wherever we are now... whenever we are now... we're here for good,” Dan mumbles.

“Whenever?” Miles glances at Charlotte. “You mean, we might not be in 2004?”

Dan doesn’t respond. His head lolls back, eyes closing again.

“Daniel?” Charlotte scrambles over to him, half rolling over Miles in the process. Miles curses and pushes himself out of the way. He watches as Charlotte cradles Dan’s head, trying to keep him upright. “Dan, c’mon, stay with me.”

_He’s still dying_ , Miles realizes. 

He pushes himself to his feet. “Stay with him.”

“Where are you going?” Charlotte turns to look at Miles. “You don’t know where the others went.”

“I have to get them back here, ‘cause we need to find a doctor. Otherwise, Dan’s gonna die.” Miles wonders if he can track them somehow. The others make it look real easy. “You just stay put.”

“Absolutely not.” Charlotte looks furious. “Miles, you can’t go running off into the jungle hoping for the best. Just stay here with us. They’ll come find us and then we can get help.”

Miles shakes his head. “It’s faster if I —“

“If you what? Get yourself lost so we waste time looking for you? Or you get yourself killed?” Charlotte shakes her head. “Just stay here. Please.”

Miles glances in the direction where the rest of the group went. He can’t bring himself to admit the truth: he wants to be gone so if Dan dies, he won’t have to see it. He doesn’t know if he can watch that happen.

“Please,” Charlotte repeats. “Stay. We need you.”

And really, how could Miles deny them that?

* * *

Miracles, it seem, do happen on this island.

Within half an hour, Sawyer, Jin, and Juliet return. They’re on their way back to the beach, with Jin helping Miles carry Dan, when they find a woman trying to escape the Others. Sawyer and Juliet immediately go in for a rescue, and she agrees to take them to her people, and to get Dan medical help.

Miracles keep happening. 

Somehow, they make it to the Dharma barracks in time. Somehow, they’re able to convince the doctors to help Dan. Somehow, Sawyer — sorry, Jim LaFleur — is able to buy them more time, even when the Others come looking for vengeance.

Miles wonders if there is something looking out for them.

Charlotte is allowed to stay with Dan. “I’m his girlfriend,” she says firmly, when they ask if he has any next of kin who’d like to wait with him until he wakes up. She gives Miles an apologetic look as she’s guided away to where Dan is resting.

Miles goes for a walk. He passes Sawyer on his way back from the dock, and decides that’s as good a place as any to bide his time.

Juliet is sitting there, watching the ocean.

“So, you thinking about the sub then?” Miles crosses his arms. “‘cause I’ve gotta say, being stuck in the seventies out there? That’s rough. The fashion alone… it’s gonna be years until punk comes back.” He shudders with mock distaste.

Juliet, to her credit, smiles a little. “I’ve been waiting to get off this island for three years.”

“Sorry we didn’t help with that,” Miles says.

They sit in silence for a while.

Juliet clears her throat. “So, Dan took a bullet for you?”

“He’d do that for anyone,” Miles says defensively. “You’ve seen him.”

Juliet gives him one of those looks. “You don’t need to lie to me.”

Miles falls silent at that. After a few minutes, he says, “so, what was Sawyer doing down here?”

“Trying to get me to stay.”

“Are you gonna listen?”

Juliet shrugs. “I gave him two weeks. He might be able to convince me.”

“Fair.” Miles nods. 

Juliet glances at him again. “You know, Miles, you’re really very nice. Sometimes.”

“Don’t let that get around,” Miles says with a smirk. “I don’t want Sawyer catching on.”

When Juliet laughs at that, Miles laughs honestly as well.

* * *

“He’s awake.”

Those two words keep running through Miles’ head. _He’s awake, he’s awake, he’s awake_. 

Dan is alive.

He hurries to the infirmary after Juliet tells him midway through his second cup of coffee. With every step, he gets more nervous. What if Dan doesn’t remember what happened? What if he takes back what he said? What if, what if, what if….?

And then he’s outside the door to the infirmary and he doesn’t know if he wants to go in.

_Man up_ , he orders himself, before pushing open the door.

He finds the bed where Dan is inside. He’s sitting up against a pillow, talking to Charlotte in low tones. When he sees Miles though, his face splits into a huge smile.

Charlotte sees, and smiles as well. “We’ve been waiting for you,” she says warmly. “Sit down.”

Without thinking, Miles gives a warm smile. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

As he sits down in the chair on the other side of Dan’s bed, he feels like it’s a homecoming in some weird, weird way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't you love when you write yourself into a corner and then you have a character confess his love to get out of it? 
> 
> Anyway I rushed through "LaFleur" a bit, because the next chapter is the three years that our heroes spend with Dharma. It will be romantic. Hopefully. 
> 
> Thank you all for sticking with this fic and enjoying it!!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's here!! The romantic chapter is here!!!
> 
> This chapter covers all three years between 1974 and 1977, as well as the events of the episode "LaFleur" and "Namaste."

“So,” Juliet asks one night, a month after they found themselves in 1974, “have any of you made a move yet?”

Miles glares at her. “I wish you’d left on the sub.”

Juliet laughs and takes a sip of her wine. “Come on. You told me Dan said he loved you and Charlotte, so why are you all still behaving like it’s high school?”

“It’s not that easy,” Miles grumbles, sinking further down into the chair in Juliet’s living room. “I know it’s the seventies and everyone’s getting high and having threesomes, but this is weirder than that.”

“Ah yes,” Juliet deadpans. “Three people are in love with each other, and want to act on these feelings, and that’s the weirdest thing that’s happened to us on this island.”

Miles hates that she’s right. Over the past four weeks, it’s gone from happily ever after to awkward now that certain death isn’t hanging over their heads. Charlotte, it seems, is just as shitty at relationships as he is, and Dan seems terrified to make a first move. So the three of them orbit each other awkwardly, hoping one of them takes the plunge first.

It’s hell. Miles thinks he might’ve actually died and this is what hell is like. Full of jumpsuits and yellow houses.

“It’s complicated,” he says, knowing he’s getting whiny. 

Sawyer comes in from the other room, a beer in hand. “What’s complicated?”

“Don’t say it,” Miles warns.

Juliet doesn’t listen. “Miles is having romantic trouble.”

“With the geek and the girl?” Sawyer shakes his head. “Y’all make a weird team.”

Miles bites back an uncharitable remark about how threesomes might’ve solved Sawyer’s earlier problems with Jack and Kate. He’s trying to be nicer. Really. If he’s gonna be stuck here with these yahoos for the rest of his life, he might as well try to make friends.

They’re nice enough. Now that Sawyer isn’t yelling at him all the time and they’re working security together, he appreciates the guy’s sense of humor. He and Juliet have taken to having weekly wine and bitch sessions, and Jin — who’s been learning more English thanks to Charlotte — isn’t so bad, even if he’s grieving the fact he won’t be able to see his wife again.

Time travel’s a _bitch_.

Sawyer settles down on the couch next to Juliet, slinging his arm along the back cushion. It’s such a cliched move that Miles can’t help but snicker.

“You got something you wanna say?” Sawyer asks defensively.

“Nope. Just thinking about the pot and the kettle, that’s all,” Miles says cheerfully. 

It’s worth it for the way that both Sawyer and Juliet flush. Miles notes that Sawyer doesn’t move his arm though.

* * *

Life with the Dharma Initiative becomes routine, and the domesticity of it all almost makes Miles forget just how god damned weird it is to be walking around a couple years before he was born.

He gets up, goes to work, and then comes back home immediately afterwards. It’s more routine than he’s used to; after all, as a spiritualist back in 2004, he just had appointments with clients and time to kill in between. Here, he’s expected to clock in and clock out, and occasionally take night shifts. On the evenings he’s free though, he spends that time with his newfound friends.

That includes Dan and Charlotte.

The three of them might be unwilling to act on their feelings, but they sure spend a hell of a lot of time as a unit, especially since they were assigned to live together. Dan gets up early to make coffee before Charlotte or Miles, so there’s always two cups prepared just the way they like — Charlotte takes a little milk and sugar in hers, while Miles claims to drink it black but Dan always puts a little sugar in, which makes it perfect — just waiting for them to shuffle out of the bedrooms.

None of them are good at cooking, so dinner has become an experience where they huddle around the stove, someone holding a cookbook, and try to not burn the house down. Sometimes it turns out okay. Other times they wind up at the house Juliet is sharing with Sawyer, smelling faintly of smoke, and Juliet lets them in and feeds them.

“You’re all adults, and you’re telling me none of you know how to cook?” She said incredulously the first time they showed up and explained the situation.

“I led a busy life. Rarely had time to stop at my own flat,” Charlotte said.

“It never really, uh, was a concern? I spent so much time in the lab.” Dan at least has the grace to sound embarrassed.

Miles shrugs. “I love takeout.”

They’ve gotten better at least. It turns out if the three of them work together, they can now scratch together a decent meal. So evenings now are spent together, sometimes in a gentle, familiar silence and others in deep conversation.

There’s an underlying layer of awkwardness after Dan’s confessions, a “what if” present in all their questions about the future and about the past, but they pointedly ignore it. After all, what they have is good. There’s no need to ruin it now with feelings. 

* * *

It all comes to a head at the three month mark.

They’ve been drinking, which is never a good sign. There’s a record on the stereo and they’ve been drunkenly singing along. Charlotte grabs Dan’s hand and pulls him out of his chair; the pair of them start slow dancing, awkwardly and off beat but still dancing. Dan is looking at Charlotte like she hung the stars, and she’s leaning into him, and Miles suddenly has a vision of what their future looks like.

He sees a future where they all sleep together but Dan and Charlotte decide they don’t want to keep Miles around. That sure, they like him, but Dan’s feelings were just a passing thing, were _pity_ at worst. They get to run off into the sunset and get married and have beautiful genius babies, but Miles is just a footnote in their story. He doesn’t matter. Not as much.

He gets up abruptly, breaking the mood. “I’m gonna go,” he says darkly.

Charlotte frowns. “Where are you going? We’re having a great time.”

“No, you’re having a good time. I’m being the third wheel.”

Now that it’s been said, there’s no taking it back. Dan and Charlotte practically jump apart, looking guilty, and that pisses Miles off more.

“You two keep it up, you make a great couple,” he sneers, before heading to the door. It slams shut behind him with a satisfying sound and Miles stomps off towards the jungle, heading nowhere in particular. 

He stops only a few yards in and exhales shakily. His eyes are wet and he wipes at them furiously, trying to control his breath. He is not going to cry about this. He’s not. He won’t let himself do that.

“Miles?”

Miles jumps. “Jesus, Dan, stop sneaking up on people.”

Dan stands there, a concerned look on his face. “We were worried,” he says simply. “I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

That’s enough to wring a bitter laugh out of Miles. “Yeah, worried. Sure.”

“Please, just talk to me,” Dan says gently. “What’s wrong?”

The truth spills out of Miles furiously. “You said you were in love with me too. And that’s great, that’s really great, but you don’t mean that. You felt guilty, and you said it, and now you’ve got the life you’ve always wanted with Charlotte and you’re gonna forget about me.”

Dan frowns. “What? No, no, that’s not true. I’ve been … been scared to talk about this, after we got here, but I still feel the same way about you.”

“You’re not scared. You’re trying to figure out how to get out of this.” Miles scowls at him. “I’m not going to be your second choice here, okay?”

“I’m not, I swear…”

“It doesn’t matter.” Miles hates how his voice breaks a little. “You and Charlotte can go play house, and sure, it’ll be fun to fuck around for a bit with me, but you don’t actually want me in your little life.”

Dan blinks. “Miles, Miles I don’t understand…” He frowns, and his lips tremble a little. “Please, come back inside. We’ll talk about it together.”

“I told you! I’m not gonna be anyone’s fucking second choice.”

And that repetition gives Dan the push he needed. Within second he’s crossed the space between them. His left hand comes up to cradle Miles’ cheek while the other settles on his waist, as natural as ever.

It takes Miles’ breath away. His own hands hover uselessly for a moment, and then he rests them on Dan’s chest. Feeling his heartbeat, the pulse a steady proof that he’s alive.

Dan Faraday is alive. The rest of the world might be filled with the sounds of the dead, but Dan Faraday is here and anchors him to the world of the living by the sheer fact that he is alive. Miles can feel his own pulse racing, marking him as being alive too.

“You are not our second choice,” Dan breathes. “You are _not_ my second choice.”

Miles tries to think of something snappy to say back, because they’re at the edge of a very dangerous cliff. There are two options here: he can stay safe or he can take the plunge. Either way, someone’s gonna get hurt.

Finally, he quirks the side of his mouth up in a smirk. “Prove it.”

When Dan kisses him, he expects sweet and chaste and nervous, like the guy he first met on the boat all those months ago. But they’re both different now, and just as Miles has grown vulnerable, Dan has grown bolder. He kisses him with absolute certainty, and Miles lets his hands slide up to cup his face and pull him closer.

They stand in the dark, years before they will be born, and Miles feels alive.

After a few minutes, Dan pulls back. He smiles in that earnest, unguarded way he has. “C’mon. Charlotte’s gonna miss us.”

Miles nods. Dan twines their hands together as they walk back to the house, and it’s nice. It feels really nice. 

Charlotte is pacing when they come back inside. “There you two are,” she says, and her face betrays nervousness. 

Dan smiles. “I think we should talk.”

Miles shakes his head. “Or we could do something more fun…”

He winks at Dan, who blushes. 

“So,” Miles says, turning to Charlotte. “Have you two even kissed yet?”

Charlotte shakes her head, smiling slightly. “We, erm, we haven’t yet.”

“Christ, you’ve been going around saying you’re his girlfriend and you haven’t kissed?” Miles sighs. “You people are repressed.”

“Says the guy who stormed out of here rather than talk about his feelings.”

Miles wants to say more, but Dan interrupts. “Maybe we should fix that,” he says, and it’s too sincere to be a pick up line.

Charlotte grins. “I thought you’d never ask.” 

With that, she crosses the room and kisses Dan. Miles drops Dan’s hand, because it feels weird to keep holding it at that moment, and Dan uses his newfound freedom to run his hands through Charlotte’s hair.

Charlotte breaks the kiss after a few moments. She grins at Dan, who looks awestruck, before turning to Miles.

“You gonna sweep me off my feet?” Miles says, smirking slightly.

“You’re short enough that I could.” 

“Hey, I —!” 

But Miles is cut off by Charlotte kissing him and yeah, he gets why Dan was wordless. She’s a damn good kisser. 

After they break apart, the three of them stand there, looking at each other and grinning.

Charlotte takes the lead. “C’mon,” she says, grabbing their hands and tugging them towards the bedroom. “You said we could do something more fun than just sit and talk.”

She’s right. They don’t talk much after that.

* * *

Later that night, after Charlotte falls asleep, Miles traces his fingers over the scar on Dan’s shoulder, the only imperfection on his pale skin.

“You’re too skinny,” he says. “Seriously, do you eat anything?”

Dan chuckles. “Thanks.”

Miles lets the comforting silence blanket them. Dan is tucked between him and Charlotte, just like he’s always been. Right now, Dan’s attention is entirely on Miles, his sleepy eyes full of a tenderness that makes Miles’ heart ache in a strange way.

He keeps running his fingers over the scar, as if he can erase it somehow.

“Hey,” Dan murmurs, “I’m here. It’s okay.”

Miles stops to press a kiss to the scar. It’s a sickeningly romantic move and he almost regrets it, but Dan shivers a little and he smiles against his skin. 

The next morning, it’s Dan who oversleeps. Miles grabs his underwear and pants from the ground and tugs them on as he heads into the kitchen to find Charlotte, who’s cussing the coffee maker.

“I can’t get it to work like Dan does,” she grumbles in Miles’ direction, proving she’s just as crabby as he is without coffee.

Miles walks over and smacks the machine. “It’s a bitch. It’s a bitch coffee maker. I miss Starbucks.”

Charlotte laughs. As the smell of coffee fills the room, she turns and gives Miles a look. “You know, did we ever talk about our feelings? I mean, just you and me?”

Miles pauses. “No, I think we skipped that conversation.”

“Well, maybe we should. We can’t just only be in this for Dan.” Charlotte cocks her head to the side, waiting for Miles’s response.

Miles fights the urge to flee the conversation. “Sure. I mean, you’re hot, I’m hot, Dan is hot when he doesn’t look like he stuck his hand in an electrical socket. It’s only a matter of time before we all banged it out.”

“Miles, be serious.”

“I am being serious. We’ve always had chemistry.”

“No, we haven’t. You were an asshole on the boat.” Charlotte crosses her arms, but her tone is teasing. “At least when we first left port.”

“And you were a mega bitch,” Miles replies. “Is this the part of the story where we hug it out and talk about our growth?”

“ _Miles._ ”

“Fine! I like that you don’t take shit from anyone, you’re smart, and I dig chicks who can hold their own in conversation.” Miles raises his hands in mock defeat. “You happy now?”

Charlotte smiles. “Yes. For the record, I like your humor. And I like that you don’t take shit either.”

“God, then what about Dan?” Miles shakes his head. “All that apologetic energy. We’re gonna eat him alive.”

Charlotte’s laughter echoes through the kitchen at that.

* * *

The daily rhythm of their lives doesn’t change much once sex enters into the picture.

They still get up each morning. Dan makes coffee, and usually burns breakfast. They go to their jobs — Charlotte’s teaching the kids at the school, while Dan works with the other scientists studying the island’s stranger qualities — and come back home for dinner. They spend their evenings mostly in the same fashion, except they all try to cram themselves into one bed. 

Their secrets come out faster now that the walls have come down.

Charlotte has been using her mother’s maiden name as her last name since they arrived in the seventies, and they figure out why when Jeanette Lewis gives birth to a healthy baby girl, also named Charlotte. 

“I spent my entire life trying to get back here,” she says by way of explanation. “And now… now I know it’s real. I know that it wasn’t just something I made up.”

Miles gets the shock of his life when he sees Dr. Pierre Chang arrive, alongside his wife Lara. He’s never had the chance to meet his father and now there he is, walking along the path to his home like he won’t abandon his family in a few years.

He comes home early that day. When Dan and Charlotte arrive later, he explains with shaking, gasping breaths; Charlotte makes him a cup of tea and Dan holds his hand until he comes back to himself.

“I’m gonna be born here,” he says, feeling detached from himself. “That’s why my nose started bleeding. I was born here.”

They’re all children of the island in some way, now knowing that Dan’s mother is out in the jungle somewhere.

Dan has nightmares sometimes. He wakes them both up one night, crying out for a Theresa. When they ask about her the next morning, Dan’s face crumples as he explains that there was an accident. That he fried his own brain and hers as well, that Widmore took care of it as he left England to return home, to live with a caretaker for what he thought would be the rest of his life.

“I didn’t mean to hurt anyone,” he says tearfully. “I wanted… I wanted to fix it, but I couldn’t.”

In the real world, far away from the island and the mysteries there, these secrets might drive a wedge between them, but here, it just serves to bring them closer. 

The aching vulnerability here makes Miles almost uncomfortable. He’s not used to people sticking around and carving out places in their lives for him. But even when he’s at his angriest, Dan and Charlotte stay. 

There will be nights, he’ll come to find, when he’s not angry. Where Dan plays a song on the piano as Charlotte and Miles dance and sing along, or where they all sit reading different books in a tangle on the couch. He finds he’s less angry as the days pass, even with the weirdness of their situation.

He knows a storm is on the horizon — Locke is still missing, and in the jungle the Others are planning to wipe them all out at some point in the future — but those nights, he can try to forget that and focus on the here and now. On the life he’s made for himself.

* * *

The storm clouds start gathering one morning when Miles comes stumbling out looking for his coffee and finds Dan scribbling in his journal.

“Whatcha doing there, genius?” Miles yawns. “Where’s my coffee?”

Dan barely looks up. “I, uh, haven’t made any yet.” He doesn’t apologize though, just keeps writing.

Miles frowns. He turns the coffee maker on and then looks at Dan. “You’re being weird.”

“Am I?”

“Yeah. It’s like boat Dan came back.”

Dan’s brow is furrowed. “I just had this idea last night.”

“Oh yeah?” Miles cocks his head to the side. “About what?”

“A contingency plan.” Dan looks up at that, and his eyes are far away. “Just in case.”

Something cold settles in the pit of Miles’s stomach. “A contingency plan,” he repeats. 

Dan nods. “I was thinking… we have it pretty good, yeah? But what if something goes wrong?”

Miles can’t help but scoff. “Nothing’s gonna go wrong.”

“But what if it does.” Dan sets his journal down to focus on Miles. “I was thinking last night… what if Charlotte had died? Or if you’d been shot? What would we need to change to fix that?”

“I thought we couldn’t change anything. Whatever happened, happened. That’s what you said.” 

“I know, I know.” Dan’s voice takes on a manic tone. “But if we could… I was thinking about us as constants. But what if we’re variables in the equation? I mean, what if we could change our destinies?”

Miles nods slowly. “So, what does that mean? Your plan?”

Dan exhales slowly. “…blow up the bomb, the one the Others have. Destroy the island. Make it so we never come here.”

That takes the air out of the room.

After a long pause, Miles finds his voice. “So let me get this straight. You think that if we blow up the bomb, that all this goes away? That we just never come here?”

Dan nods. “Yeah.”

He looks like he wants to say more, but Miles doesn’t let him. “No. No, we’re not talking about this, okay? This, this right here, is crazy.”

“I’m not saying I’m going to do it,” Dan says pleadingly. “But we need to know that we can change things. If something goes wrong, I can change things!”

“By making sure we never meet?” And that’s what stings the most, Miles thinks, a world where he’s never met Dan or Charlotte. Where he never will meet them. “No. We’re not having this conversation.”

“But Miles —“

“No!” Miles stands up. “I’m gonna go make coffee. Charlotte is gonna wake up in a few minutes. We are going to go about our day, and this? We’re not going to talk about it again.”

Dan looks hurt, but he nods. “It’s only an idea,” he says, voice apologetic. “I don’t… I don’t want to do this.”

“Good.” Miles turns towards the kitchen, furious with Dan in a way he isn’t sure he’s really been since the boat. 

They stay silent until Charlotte emerges. “What’s with the grim expressions? Did someone die?”

Miles chokes back a bitter laugh. “No. Dan here just forgot to make coffee. You know how I get when there’s no caffeine.”

Charlotte laughs. She comes up to where Miles is to wrap her arms around his waist and kiss his cheek fondly. 

Miles pointedly doesn’t look at Dan.

* * *

“Do you ever wish this hadn’t happened?”

Miles knows he’s getting close to dangerous territory with this, but Dan’s words have been ringing in his head for three days now. They’re supposed to be enjoying board game night with Sawyer, Juliet, and Jin, but instead Miles is outside with a beer as inside Sawyer and Charlotte argue over the rules while Dan and Jin chat amiably about work.

Juliet knows something’s wrong though. That’s why she’s out here, listening to him whine. Again.

“No,” she says gently. “I think if we hadn’t come here, to this time, we’d all be dead by now. Besides, a lot of good has happened in these past years.”

She’s right. Miles knows how her relationship with Sawyer has grown and developed; he’s teased them both enough about it. Juliet seems happy with her domestic life.

Still… 

“I mean, if we never came to the island,” he grumbles.

Juliet’s face darkens. “I don’t know about that,” she says cooly. “I think our lives would be very different.”

“Yeah,” Miles says bitterly. “I think so too.”

“Different doesn’t mean better though,” Juliet says softly. She gives his shoulder a squeeze. “Now come back inside. Charlotte and James both think they’re about to win monopoly, but I think Jin is going to surprise us.”

Jin. Miles feels bad for the guy. Really. He can’t imagine what it’s like to be trapped years before your wife will exist. And she was pregnant too. He’s the only one who still believes that Locke will return with the other Oceanic survivors.

Miles wonders if Jin would like Dan’s contingency plan.

There’s a shout of “son of a bitch” from inside the house that signals Sawyer losing. Juliet tugs his arm again and Miles sighs, finishes his beer, and goes to rejoin the others.

* * *

The day the storm hits starts like any other.

Miles is in the security office when Juliet comes in. “Miles, have you seen James?”

“Nope. He's not answering his walkie, either.” Miles frowns. Sawyer, for all his bluster, is a reliable guy.

“Jin called him this morning, then he just ran off without telling me what was going on.”

Miles spots him on the security cameras, heading back to the house. Juliet goes hurrying after him, and Miles waits with a growing sense of dread. Finally, he gets in one of the vans and tries to track down Sawyer himself.

He finds him with the new recruits. “LaFleur! Where have you been? I've been trying to reach you on the walkie.”

He stops in his tracks. Behind him are Jack, Kate, and Hurley.

They’re back. 

“What the hell are they doing here?” Miles says in a sharp, low voice.

“They're our new inductees. I'll explain everything later,” Sawyer says, glancing around. “You should, um, you should probably tell Faraday and Charlotte.”

“Faraday?” Jack has been listening. “He’s here?”

“Yeah,” Miles says defensively. “What about it?”

“His mother is the one who got us here,” Jack replies. 

Miles wants to unpack that, but Jin’s found a hostile — and it’s Sayid Jarrah, of all people — and so the question of Dan and his mother and how the hell she managed to send people through time has to wait.

Later that night, he comes home to Charlotte panicking.

“I saw Kate Austen today,” she says furiously. “How the hell did they get here?”

“I don’t know.” Miles runs a hand through his hair. “They said… Jack said it was Dan’s mom. That got them here.”

Charlotte blinks. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“That seems to be the usual for this place.”

Charlotte looks like she wants to say. more, but the door opens. They both jump and turn to see Dan entering.

“Hey.” Dan sounds exhausted. “I, uh, I don’t want to sound the alarms just yet, but we’ve got a problem.”

“Make it two problems, whatever yours is,” Miles says. The weight of this threat to the lives they’ve built together seems too heavy to carry. “We’ve got to talk.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The comment about Dan's hair looking like he stuck his hand in an electrical socket is a direct callout for Jeremy Davies at the 2012 Emmy awards.

**Author's Note:**

> Please talk to me about the science team - I'm @milesdanielcharlotte on tumblr.


End file.
